


On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Turtle

by probablylostrightnow



Series: Mikey and Jasmine [2]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Online Dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-01-18 11:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1427008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probablylostrightnow/pseuds/probablylostrightnow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikey is hoping to meet his online girlfriend, but her protective sister and the Kraang are in his way. Sequel to "Loves Pizza, Looking for Same."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sophie

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my beta readers, servantofclio (all chapters) and theherocomplex (Chapter 1). This story literally would not exist without them.

The smell from the takeout containers is making my stomach sit up and take notice, so I’m rushing by the time I get home. I sprint up the stairs and into the lobby, grab my mail, and take just a moment to flip through it. I have to squint to read the return addresses. _Half the lights in here must be burned out_. _Have to bug the super about that_. Mail plus takeout containers plus my purse and briefcase means my hands are too full to hit the apartment buzzer. I consider hitting it with my nose, then decide an elbow is a safer bet.

“Who is it?” Jasmine’s voice comes over the tinny intercom. She doesn’t sound like she’s been crying. Maybe she’s getting over this whole Mikey thing.

“Just a couple of monkeys, Jazzy,” I sing out. Having a passcode was my idea, but the choice of phrase was Jasmine’s. My little sister has a weird sense of humor. We’d used “a swarm of rats” for a bit after the rat infestation, but apparently that wasn’t traumatic enough for her, so it was back to the monkeys.

“I don’t know if I can let monkeys into the apartment. Unless maybe the monkeys happened to bring home some sushi?” Jasmine asks.

“They might have,” I allow, heading for the stairs.

Jasmine has the bolts and chain undone and the door cracked open before I reach it. I slip through the door, closing it behind me, to see that she is dressed in a ratty bathrobe, head uncovered. Dammit,Jasmine. I give her my best scowl. “Where’s your hood?”

“Oh, sorry, Soph. I didn’t think to put it on.” Jasmine’s ears and nose twitch.

“What’s next, curling up in the windows next to Erwin?” Jasmine’s tabby loves the windowsills, which is a little unfortunate, since my lease specifies “no pets.” “What if one of the neighbors was coming up the stairs and caught a glimpse of you?” My voice is getting louder and louder. “Are you actively trying to get caught?”

“Sophie.” She reaches for me with her right hand, then reconsiders and puts her left hand on my arm.   “I appreciate that you’re trying to keep me safe. But your neighbors are not going to peer in through a one-inch crack in the door and run down the hallways yelling, ‘Kitty ears! Kitty ears!’”

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out, like Coach taught me to do when I got too fired up. “Fair enough, sis.” I set the takeout containers down on the battered table, then turn to give her a hug. “Sorry I snapped at you there. Kind of a rough day at work.”

“We’re good,” she tells me with a smile that exposes a wicked pair of incisors. I expect her to pounce on the sushi, but instead she turns and heads for the bedroom.

“Hey, wait! Aren’t you hungry?”

“Just a moment,” she calls back. “I was chatting with Mikey and I should let him know I won’t be on for a bit.”

“Chatting with _Mikey_?” I follow her as far as the bedroom door, failing to control a wince when I look inside. My room – now Jasmine’s – looks like a Superfund cleanup site, with dirty dishes piled in the corners and a carpet of fur coating everything. _Aren’t cats supposed to be tidy?_ “I thought you broke that poor boy’s heart. Did he really come back for another helping?”

“I told him I was sorry, but that my big sister wouldn’t let me come meet him. He said he totally understood how that was, and that he forgave me. Isn’t that sweet?”

It’s probably good that Jasmine is looking at the screen and not my face. _So I get to be the bad guy here._ Admittedly, I _had_ told her in no uncertain terms that she couldn’t meet the boy. Mikey really did seem like a sweet guy, if not the brightest, but there was no way he wouldn’t freak at the first sight of Jasmine’s bewhiskered, fur-covered face. I open my mouth to remind her of this, then remember last week’s conversation. I suggested that Mikey didn’t seem to be on her mental level, she brought up Steve the lawyer, I noted that in this apartment he is “that asshole Steve,” and the conversation went in unhelpful directions. Hey, I never said I was the perfect role model.

Jasmine is typing away at the keyboard, using only her left hand. She says it’s too hard to type with her right hand, the motion tends to extend her claws and they get in the way. I find myself staring at her once again. I always tell myself that I’m just trying to get used to the way she looks now – she’s caught me flinching when she does something catlike, like licking her arm or absent-mindedly sharpening her claws on the furniture, and I can see the way she flinches in turn. But I have to admit there’s a mix of horror and fascination and guilt in there too.

Budding scientist that she is, she’s done a lot of speculation on what happened. She thinks the change started in her right hand where she touched the goo (her name, not mine), then spread up her arm and along her spinal column. (She doesn’t talk much about this part, but I also get the impression that it hurt like hell.) Her right arm is pretty much all cat – thinner than it was and covered in thick fur, black on the top, white on the bottom. Her left arm looks pretty much unchanged – there’s more hair, but her light coffee-colored skin is still visible, a few shades lighter than mine. (I guess she got more of Dad’s white genes along with his science-nerd genes. I favor Mom on both counts.)

And then there’s the tail. I admit, I still have a really hard time coping with the tail, especially its tendency to twitch. At least Jazz has better control of it now. Replacing all the broken glasses was getting old.

Jasmine finishes typing and turns away from the keyboard with a smile. “He says that he and his brothers are going out to fight alien robots anyway. Mikey cracks me up!” The computer beeps, and she glances back at the screen. I can hear that she’s frowning now when she says, “Oh, another message from Kraig. Look, dude, I’m not going to message you back, go away.”

“Who’s this?” I ask warily. One of my perennial worries is that one of Jasmine’s Internet contacts will start stalking her, but it’s the only social contact she has and I can’t... won’t... take that away.

“He’s some creeper who’s spent the day sending me messages. He has the weirdest syntax. He’s probably not a native English speaker, so I know I shouldn’t make fun, but he is giving me the creeps so maybe it’s fair. Listen to this: ‘The one known as Jasmine should engage in the activity known as dating with Kraig. The one known as Jasmine shall be having what is known as a good time.’”

I shudder as dramatically as I can. “Always avoid guys who tell you what kind of time you should be having. I do really wish you hadn’t used your real name on that site, Jazz.”

Jasmine shrugs. “It’s not as if I’m the only Jasmine in the boroughs. I’m careful, I don’t tell anyone my last name or where I live. Plus, Mikey says he clicked on me at first because I have a pretty name.” She rose and stretched, arching her back. “Time for sushi?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” I said as the phone rang. “Crap. Go ahead and get started without me, OK?” I pick up the receiver. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end is male and crisp. “Hello. May I speak to Ms. Sophie Walker?”

“Speaking,” I say, trying to place the voice. It doesn’t sound like anyone from the parade of exes, and I haven’t given a guy my number since Jasmine moved in two months ago.

“This is Agent Bishop with the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” he says. “I am hoping to interview you and your sister about your father’s disappearance.”

Now he’s got one hundred percent of my attention. I glance at Jasmine, who is tearing into the raw fish but definitely listening to my end of the conversation, and duck into her room, making an effort not to trip over a pile of laundry. Mental note: I need to run to the laundromat sometime soon. It’s not as if I can send Jasmine.

“Yes? Do you have a lead on Dad?” I call the police twice a week, but they don’t seem to be getting anywhere. But what does the frigging FBI have to do with this?

“Possibly. I’m not sure yet. It would be very helpful for my investigation if I could talk to you and your sister.”

If he asks her questions about Dad’s research, or her whereabouts the days after he disappeared... I don’t like where that could lead.   “My sister and I gave lengthy statements to the police. I’d like to help, but I really don’t think there’s anything else I could tell you.”

There is a pause, then he continues smoothly. “I’m working on a case that may be connected to your father’s disappearance. The New York City police may not... be able to see the full picture here. If you and your sister come in and talk with me, it could be very helpful in recovering your father.”

Oh _hell_ no. “You can’t just talk to us over the phone?” I want to smack my forehead. _Way to convince him you have nothing to hide, Sophie_.

“There are some... documents and images I would like to share with you. They are confidential, so I can’t transmit them to you. I would be happy to meet with the two of you at a time that’s convenient for you.”

He’s smooth and I have an increasingly bad feeling about this. “I really can’t put my sister through that. All of this has been really difficult and traumatic for her. But I could come in and talk to you...”

“I’m afraid that would not be as helpful. As I understand it, you have been at odds with your father for years. You even changed your last name. In contrast, Jasmine was living at home and had daily contact with your father. She is more likely to recognize a face or a name.”

He might as well have punched me in the gut. How much does this man know about us? “Jasmine’s well-being is my first priority. She’s been through enough trauma at this point. I’m afraid that my answer is no.”

“I hope you reconsider, Ms. Walker. Your father’s life isn’t the only one hanging in the balance here.”

 _Was that a threat?_ “Goodbye,” I tell him, and press the OFF button on the phone. I realize that my hand is shaking and sweat is pooling in my armpits. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself. _Thanks, Coach_. Once I feel more composed, I head back out to the outer room and put the phone back in its cradle.

The table is a scene of carnage. The sashimi never knew what hit it. Jasmine raises her head, licks her lips, and asks, “What was that about?”

“Nothing important,” I lie, sitting down and rooting through the carnage for my maki. “Some decisions about your trust fund I needed to approve.” Dad may have been an unsupportive jerk who disapproved of every single choice I made in my entire life, but he did make sure that I would be able to take care of Jasmine if anything happened to him, and I love him a little bit for that.

Jasmine cocks her head to one side and gives me a long look. “Don’t take up playing poker, Sophie.”

“Whaaa?” I respond articulately.

“You have the worst poker face in the universe. Plus I can see your hand is still shaking a little. Plus I could hear your entire end of the conversation – these are pretty sensitive,” she says, pointing at her ears.

“OK, OK. Some guy who said he was with the FBI and wants to talk with you about Dad. But he was really insistent about talking to you in person, and he gave me a really bad feeling.”

“A guy who gives you a bad feeling right away? He must really be the worst,” Jasmine said, unable to suppress a toothy smirk.

“Well, I wasn’t planning to date him,” I say, relaxing a little. Jasmine has always been good at distracting me when I’m upset about something. “It does make me worry, though. Ever since that reporter – Kurtzman? – stopped nosing around, the only calls I’ve gotten about you have been pretty routine. The trust fund, school, and such.”

“I finished two more MOOCs today,” Jasmine noted. “I don’t know why anyone bothers sitting in classrooms anymore.”

I attempt to visualize my clients attempting to navigate a Massive Open Online Course, but decide I don’t want to be diverted into this argument again. “So how did the time spent on MOOCs compare with the time spent napping?”

Jasmine uses her clawed hand to bat Erwin away from her sushi. “Hey, MOOCs are all about getting rid of obsolete ideas like ‘seat time.’ Fossils like you need to embrace the future.”

“One more crack like that and I’ll show you who’s a fossil,” I say, poking Jasmine in the ribs. She pokes back, and that pretty much puts an end to any semblance of serious conversation.

After dinner, Jasmine goes back to the computer and I lie on the couch, half-reading the paper and half-watching a volleyball game. I’m still a little worried about Bishop. _Tomorrow I’ll look at apartment listings. Just in case_. Penn State is up 2 sets to 1 when I click off the television, turn off the light, and pull a blanket over me. The light’s out in Jasmine’s room, but I’m sure she’ll be at the computer for several hours yet.

I drift off into uneasy dreams in which FBI Agent Bishop has me cornered in an alley. When he walks up to me, he turns out to be that asshole Steve. Bishop/Steve tries to use his rational-argument skills to talk me into handing over Jasmine. For some reason, dream me does not respond by punching him in the face.

* * *

I groan when the alarm goes off, then smack it into silence before it can wake Jasmine. I can hear her half-snoring, half-purring as I drag myself to the coffeemaker, pull a clean shirt and pair of slacks out of the dresser wedged in the corner next to the table, and try to make myself presentable for work. When I glance in at Jasmine, she is curled up on the bed against a mound of piled-up blankets, with her chin tucked against her chest. I hate to disturb her, but the deadbolt isn’t going to lock itself, so I put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Instantly, she is awake, eyes wide open and staring.

“Soph! What’s wrong?”

I rub her shoulder reassuringly. It’s not as strange as it was to feel the smooth, soft fur. “It’s just time for me to leave. Can you get the door?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, sorry. I think I was having a bad dream.”

“Anything you want to talk about?” I ask.

“No, just a dream.” I’ve heard her cry out in her sleep sometimes, but she’s never been willing to talk about it. Then again, I’m not about to share the Agent Steve dream with her, either. She stumbles the few feet to the apartment door, and I give her a quick hug.

“Now remember, let the answering machine pick up if the phone rings, and don’t answer the buzzer unless I’ve called to tell you I’m on my way. OK?” I know I’ve given this warning fifty times already and there’s no need to repeat it, but I can’t help myself. She just nods and gives me a quick squeeze. I close the door and head down the stairs to catch the train.

I work as a case manager assistant in an elder care office, setting up and conducting interviews with new clients, making follow-up phone calls, and doing paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. It’s not quite what I’d envisioned when I was getting my Social Work degree, but I’ve been doing it for three years now, and on good days I feel like I’m helping make a difference for someone. On bad days I wonder if Dad was right and my A.S. wasn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. He didn’t even come to my graduation.

The office is hectic today, and I don’t have a chance to call home until my lunch break. The answering machine picks up after four rings. I know it’s my voice on the thing, but it always sounds strange. “Hello, you’ve reached Sophie Walker...”

I interrupt the message. “Hi, me, it’s me. Jasmine around anywhere?”

“Hi, Sophie,” Jasmine’s voice comes over the phone.

“How are you doing?”

“All right,” Jasmine answers. “Mikey’s having a rough day. He lost a good friend, and he says he’s not sure he’ll ever see him again.”

That sets off alarm bells. Carl told me a very similar story when he was trying to get me into bed. Where by “story” I mean “pack of bald-faced lies,” by “trying” I mean “succeeding,” and by “Carl” I mean “that asshole Carl.”

“He’s not trying to get you to do anything, is he? Or trying again to get you to meet him?”

“Sophie,” Jasmine says reproachfully. “Mikey’s not Carl.” OK, when the hell did I tell my baby sister that story? _Why_ the hell did I tell my baby sister that story? I strongly suspect that alcohol was involved. Jasmine continues, “I sent him a bunch of kitten GIFs until he told me to stop because he was laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe.”

God dammit, my little sister is better at relationships than I am. I’m almost starting to root for these two. _But it’s never going to happen. And whose fault is that?_ The familiar litany of thoughts starts up in my head. _I should have known she would go check out the lab. I should have stopped her. Or gone with her_. _Or done anything except tell her, “The police will deal with it,” and go to work. Which is what I did._

“Uh, Soph, you still there?” Jasmine asks.

She’s got enough to deal with without shouldering my guilt issues as well. “Sorry, Jazz. Just thinking about too many things at once.” Fortunately, my total lack of a poker face is less of an issue on the phone.

“Oh – one thing I should let you know about, but don’t freak out. This girl was knocking at the apartment door this morning,” Jasmine said.

“WHAT?” My boss Norma gives me a reproachful look from across the room.

“Calm down! It’s not a big deal. I heard the buzzer go a few times but I didn’t answer. Then I heard knocking, so I took a look through the peephole. Someone else must have let her in. She had a bunch of brochures for some school fundraising drive, selling cakes or something. I didn’t answer and she went away after a bit.”

“What did she look like?” I ask. It seems unlikely that she is FBI Agent Bishop, but I still feel rattled.

“Skinny white girl, red hair, my age or maybe a little younger?”

She would have stuck out like a sore thumb in my apartment building. “Do you want me to come home?” I ask.

“No, sis, you do not have to come protect me from the skinny white girl. Erwin might be able to knock her over in a pinch.” Jasmine laughs, and the laugh sounds genuine.

Nonetheless, I am nervous, and after a few moments of thought I pick up the phone and call Nikki. She picks up on the fourth ring. “Hey, Nikki, it’s Sophie.”

“Sophie? Do I know a Sophie? I think I used to play basketball with a Sophie, once upon a time...”

“You’re a laugh and a half, Nikki, I was there last week. But Jasmine’s not doing well and I want to head home after work. Think the team can manage without me?”

Nikki sighed. “Who’s going to commit stupid fouls without you there?”

“OK, I’ll give you two laughs, but no more. See you next week.” I hang up the phone a little more forcefully than I mean to. I haven’t fouled out in _months_. Weeks, at least.

I spend most of the afternoon on the phone. A lot of our clients are calling in with respiratory problems, and I do my best to help them out. When the phone rings around 4 pm, it takes me a moment of staring at the caller ID before I realize _that’s my number_. I grab the phone and almost drop it getting it to my ear. Jasmine never calls me at work. “Jasmine? Is everything OK?”

She sounds shaken. “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little weirded out. Kraig is messaging me again and the messages are getting creepier.”

I start throttling the phone. “What do they say?”

Jasmine reads shakily, “’The one known as Jasmine will be looking forward to meeting with the one that is Kraig. The location that is Jasmine’s location and the location that is Kraig’s location will be the same location at a time which is very soon.’”

I unleash a torrent of invective in the direction of the phone, then realize where I am and look around the office nervously. Norma’s not looking daggers at me, at least. “Jasmine, block him right away.”

“That’s the other weird thing. I thought I already did, and when I bring up the options he’s marked as blocked, but I keep getting these messages anyway.” She sounds more perplexed than alarmed.

My heart is hammering an alarm but I reach for a calm voice. “I’m coming right home, Jasmine. Make sure all the blinds are closed and whatever you do, do not unlock the door until you can see me through the peephole. It’s going to be OK, sis.” I don’t think I’m sounding very convincing.

I stammer something at Norma, no idea what, and tear out of the office. I hope like hell that this Kraig guy is only trying to get a rise out of her. How can he know where she lives? But I want to make absolutely certain that he’s going to have to go through me before he can get to my baby sister. And if he tries, he’s going to find out just how hard a foul I can deliver.


	2. Donatello

April gasps as the images from the Kraang data storage device fill the screen. “They’re after me?”

 _Should I comfort her? Put a hand on her shoulder? I’m at an awkward angle in this chair, should I stand up first?_ Donnie is still debating when, somewhat to his chagrin, Splinter places his hand on April’s shoulder instead. “I trust you know, April, that we will never allow them to take you. Donatello, this is a surprise. Have you been able to recover any further information from this... machine?”

“No, Sensei. But...” he’s really talking to April now “... I promise I will keep looking.”

April’s mouth still hangs open, and Donnie finds himself staring at her face. _Shock and exhaustion don’t make her any less beautiful... focus, Donnie, focus! How am I going to talk to Leo and April alone?_ _Hmm... Mikey and Sensei probably won’t stick around for a technical discussion._

He raises one hand to his mouth. A deep yawn comes naturally. “I think I’m too tired to do much more tonight, guys. Uh, before you go, April, do you mind taking a quick look at some of these data structures with me? I’d like to hear your ideas.”

Raph smirks, “Oooh. Data structures.” _How does he make that sound dirty?_ Donnie throws a half-hearted punch at his arm, then gets a smack in return that makes him yelp.

“It is past time for me to retire for the night,” says Splinter. “My sons, be sure to rest. I sense there will be many difficult battles ahead.”

Leo beckons Mikey and Raph. “Come on, guys. Let’s give the nerds some space to do their nerd thing.”

“Doin’ the nerd thing, oh yeah,” Mikey sings along to a soundtrack that only he can hear. Then, a little too casually, “Oh, Donnie, can I use your laptop?”

 _At least this should keep him out of our shells_. Donnie snaps, “Remember, no pizza. Or other food. Or drink. Or drooling,” and reluctantly hands the computer over. Then, as his brothers follow Splinter toward the laboratory door, he adds, “Hey, Leo. I’d actually like you to take a quick look at this data too.”

Leo gives Donnie a quizzical look and shakes his head. “I really don’t think I’ll be much help with the tech stuff. I’d was thinking I’d, ah, work on developing my leadership skills.”

“By which he means, watch that stupid show,” Raph scoffs.

“Leo,” Donnie repeated, spacing out the words and carefully emphasizing each. “I would really like you to stay here and take a quick look at this.”

Raph gives Donnie a sharp look. Mikey, gripping Donnie’s laptop tightly, seems blissfully oblivious to the exchange as he continues out the door. Donnie almost thinks he sees little hearts drifting above his brother’s head. _I must be even more tired than I realized_. After a moment, Raph shrugs and follows Mikey.

“All right, Donnie,” Leo says when they go. “This had better not be about data structures.”

“Keep your voice down,” Donnie hisses. “We need to talk about Mikey and Jasmine.”

“Mikey’s Internet girlfriend?” April asks. “I thought she stood Mikey up and broke his heart.” She had missed the events in question, but Donnie had told her everything afterward. “Though he does seem to be doing better.”

Leo leans into Donnie’s face, frowning, eyes narrowed. “Donnie, we just lost an ally and had a mission fall apart completely, all on my watch. I’ve got my mind on more important things than Mikey’s current relationship status.”

“This is actually really important.” _Whoops, that came out as a shout_. He sucks in a breath, willing himself to keep calm. “I think the Kraang are after her.”

“The Kraang are what?” Leo and April ask together. _Great, maybe someone in Queens didn’t hear that._

“Keep it down!” Donnie repeats. _Also too loud_.

“Why would the Kraang be after Mikey’s girlfriend? And how would you know if they were?” Leo asks, sounding incredulous but quieter.

“So... after we originally found out that Mikey was using the laptop to chat with her...” Donnie begins tentatively. “I wrote a script to monitor what he was doing on it.”

Leo winces, and April bites her lower lip, staring down. Donnie follows her gaze to the bulge of her custom-built T-phone. _Oh no no no_. “April, I didn’t put any software on your phone. Well, I mean, there’s software on it, and I put it there, cause I built the phone. But not monitoring software! Your phone can’t spy on you! I mean, I guess if I found a way to trace the signal it could be used to spy on you, but it would never even occur to me to do that! OK, it just occurred to me, but I still wouldn’t do it! I didn’t do it!” He sputters to a halt, belatedly aware that he should have stopped a while ago. April is looking at her hip as if a snake might leap out of her pocket at any minute.

“So you decided to spy on Mikey because...?” Leo asks sardonically.

_Because the analysis of the Kraang device was taking forever and I was afraid I wouldn’t find anything. Because I was curious. Because I can’t understand how Mikey can get a girl he’s never met to call herself his girlfriend, when I can’t get there with April._

“We’re waiting,” Leo adds, with a little smirk. _I think he’s actually enjoying this._

“You were the one who said that chatting with Mikey might put Jasmine in danger,” Donnie says defensively. “I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t saying anything to put her... or us... in danger.”

April offers him an awkward smile at that, and Donnie relaxes a bit.

“So where do the Kraang come in?” Leo prompts.

Donnie taps at his keyboard, and the file he transferred from the laptop appears on the monitor. “So Mikey and Jasmine were talking, he told her he forgives her, he mentions going off to fight alien robots...”

Leo stiffens. “Mikey, Mikey. I’ll have to talk to him about the concept of ‘secrets.’ Just as soon as I figure out how to explain that you’ve been reading all his private conversations.”

“I’m really just skimming! Looking for key words...” Donnie gulps air and gets back on track. “Anyway, they were also talking about some guy who keeps messaging Jasmine. His name is Kraig – though Mikey’s spelling isn’t very consistent – and he writes really odd messages with a lot of unnecessary words. Sound familiar?”

“You’re getting Kraang from, ‘His name starts with a K and ends with a G and he talks funny?’ Donnie, I think you’re jumping at shadows,” Leo says.

“I wasn’t sure at that point,” Donnie admits, “and I could only read Mikey’s side of the conversation. So... I hacked into Jasmine’s account so I could read her messages from Kraig.”

 _If Leo and April’s eyes could fire lasers_ , Donnie thinks, _I’d be a pile of dust right now_. He holds both hands up, 6 fingers spread wide. “I couldn’t risk Mikey’s girlfriend being in danger, could I? What else would you have suggested? If I mentioned any of this to Mikey, he’d go tearing across town to ‘rescue’ her and then we’d have a real mess on our hands.”

“So what did you find?” Leo asks, with a resigned-sounding sigh.

“Here’s one of his messages.” Donnie reads, “The one known as Kraig is being interested by the profile of the one known as Jasmine. Kraig is also enjoying the activity of walking in the light of what you call the moon.”

Leo’s tone is flat and resigned. “Yup, that’s the Kraang.”

“Why would they be interested in Mikey’s girlfriend?” April asks. She’s looking over Donnie’s shoulder now, scanning the messages on the monitor, her curiosity appearing to have fully overcome her indignation. _I sure hope so_. _I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t thought Jasmine was in danger_. A little voice corrected, _you started doing it before you had a reason to think she was in danger_.

“Maybe they know she’s Mikey’s girlfriend? They probably hacked into the dating site too.” Leo suggests.

“Their security _is_ startlingly bad,” Donnie notes disapprovingly.

“So what do we do now?” Leo asks. _Leo doesn’t have a plan? This night really has been hard on him._ “If we tell Mikey, he’ll go berserk. If we try to message her directly, she has no reason to trust or believe us. And we don’t know where she lives, or even if Jasmine is her real name.”

“Actually...” Donnie clears his throat. _Oh good, the laser eyes are making a return appearance._ “I, ah, was able to trace her logins to MY.HEART.COM and I’m pretty sure I have her address.” He taps a few more keys to bring it up on the screen.

“That’s not too far from my aunt’s place,” April says. “I can stop by in the morning on my way to school.”

“Would you?” Donnie asks gratefully. “Ahhh... if you warn her about alien robots, she probably won’t believe you...”

April’s eyes look as bright as stars to Donnie. “At least, I can try to find out if she lives there.”

Leo adopts the Captain Ryan Voice (as April and Donnie call it, though not to his face). “Then tonight, the four of us stake the place out, and if the Kraang show up, we stop them.”

“We’re bringing Mikey?” Donnie asks.

“Do you think trying to ditch him is a better idea? We tell him that we’re looking out for the Kraang because we got a tip they were going to hit this building. We don’t tell him that it’s where his girlfriend lives. That’s the last thing we need.”

* * *

A loud fanfare of trumpets blasts Donnie awake after too few hours of sleep.   _What? What’s going on?_ It takes him a moment to realize that the sound is coming from his T-phone.  He fumbles for the phone; by the time he has it in his hand, all three of his brothers are in the doorway, looking both sleepy and cranky.  Raph is growling in a way that reminds Donnie of a bottle about to explode from built-up pressure.

He gives an apologetic shrug.  “Text message from April,” he offers by way of explanation.

“What a great reason to wake us all up!” Raph snarls.

“Could you maybe find a more subtle alert sound?” Leo asks.

“I dreamed there was a flock of dancing pigs, and they were so cute, and suddenly this horrible noise drove them all away,” Mikey mourns.

Donnie tunes them all out – he has plenty of practice, though the flock of pigs is hard to let go – and reads the text.  “found building but couldn’t get into apartment.  name on mailbox was s. walker.  ill try again after school.” He tries to give a subtle shrug in Leo’s direction, then realizes that “subtle shrug” is a little too nuanced for the early hour.

Leo grabs Mikey’s hand. “Come on, Mikey, why don’t you make us some breakfast?” He heads down the hallway with Mikey in tow. Reminiscences about dancing pigs fade in the distance.

Raph hangs back in the doorway. “So, Donnie. Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or do I need to beat it out of you?” He cracks his knuckles to emphasize the words.

“We think the Kraang are after Mikey’s girlfriend.” Donnie gives an abbreviated version of his explanation from the previous night.

“And you aren’t telling Mikey because you’re afraid he might run off and do something stupid? Er. Stupider than usual?”

“Yup.” He and Raph disagree about a lot of things, but their estimation of Mikey’s capabilities isn’t one of them.

“All right, I’ll keep my mouth shut,” Raph says.

 _I hope you will_ , Donnie thinks, remembering the old saying about three turtles keeping a secret.

But throughout that day’s training session, not a word is said about Jasmine or the Kraang. Donnie struggles to keep his mind on the sparring, blocks, strikes, and jumps. _Is it time for April to check in yet?_ _Why is my heart hammering? Am I worried that she’ll get into trouble? Or am I so far gone that just the thought of a text or call from her has me this..._

“DONATELLO! Where is your focus?” Sensei’s stick cracks down on Donnie’s head. He sits down hard, and for a moment all thought comes to a stop. He struggles to his feet and dodges out of the way of the next blow.

Training has just wrapped up when Donnie’s phone starts playing the cheerful little chiptune he swapped in for the trumpets. He snatches the phone up and has it at his ear in one fluid motion. “April?” he asks.

Leo and Raph both look up, clearly attentive to the conversation. Mikey makes smooching noises in the background.

“Hey, Donnie.” April sounds out of breath.

“Is everything OK?” _Stop getting shrill, voice_.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just got to do a little jogging I hadn’t planned on, is all.”

“What happened?” Donnie’s voice is stubbornly insubordinate.

“I was heading into the apartment building and this woman came charging in behind me. I saw her glance at the ‘S. Walker’ mailbox, so I asked if she knew Jasmine. Next thing I knew, she was taking a swing at me, so I got out of there.”

“Are you hurt? I can be right there.” Donnie starts moving toward the kitchen, mentally inventorying all their medical supplies.

“I told you, I’m fine. She was big, but I was faster.”

“Do you think she might be...” Donnie looks up at Mikey “... uh, the... person... we’re looking for?”

April makes a _yeccch_ noise. “I hope not. She was old, Donnie – maybe in her mid-twenties? Way too old for Mikey, for sure. Taller than you and built like a brick wall, so be careful if you tangle with her.”

 _I’m glad she cares about my well-being, but does she really think I’ll have trouble with someone who can’t land a punch on her?_ “I’m pretty sure we can take her if we have too.”

“That _is_ what you said about the lab monkey,” April notes.

Oooh, that still hurt. Donnie tries not to let it show in his voice. “Are you headed over to the lair?”

“I don’t think so, Donnie. I’ve got a paper to write and a French test to study for. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They say their goodbyes, and Donnie hangs up the phone to find Mikey has taken up position by his elbow. “So, Donnie, how is your _girlfriend_?”

“How’s yours?” Donnie snaps. _Whoops_.

“Um... what? She stood me up, remember? Haven’t talked to her since.” Mikey is staring down at his feet as he shifts his weight from one foot to another.

 _He could star in a How To Lie Badly instructional video,_ Donnie thinks. “Right. Yes. Sorry to bring up the painful subject, Mikey.” He winces at the words coming out of his mouth. _I could probably co-star_.

“You’ll have to make it up to me, dude. Can I borrow your laptop?” Mikey’s eyes are like a puppy’s.

 _OK, I would have to get second billing. He really thinks this won’t make me suspicious?_ Donnie hands over the laptop and heads for the lab. _Let’s see what more I can coax out of the Kraang data storage device before we head out for the night_.

The answer proves to be “nothing,” and Donnie is happy to head for the turnstiles when Leo says it’s time to go. The four brothers trudge toward the surface in uncharacteristic silence. _I hope this goes better than last night. Even if it does – protecting Mikey’s girlfriend isn’t going to close that portal, or bring Leatherhead back_. He suspects that Leo and Raph are having similar thoughts. As for Mikey, Donnie gave up on speculating about what Mikey is thinking long ago.

As the turtles scramble up to the rooftops, Mikey breaks the silence by singing the theme song from “Space Heroes,” loudly and off-key. Leo and Raph shush him; when the singing starts up again, Leo snaps, “Shut it, Mikey.” Mikey’s face droops into a pout. Usually the turtles enjoy running and jumping from roof to roof, but today no one seems to feel like showing off, and the fresh air seems a bit stale.

As the turtles approach Jasmine’s apartment building – _I hope it really is Jasmine’s apartment building_ – Leo scrambles up onto a piece of ductwork for a better view. He motions the brothers to stop and drops back down to the rooftop, frowning. “Bad news. The Kraang are already here.”

“Doesn’t sound like bad news to me,” Raph snarls, making a fist against his cupped hand.

Leo glares at Raph, and for a second Donnie really expects fists to fly, but then Leo looks away, toward the apartment building. “There are two Kraang standing guard by the door, and a white van which probably has more Kraang in it. We have to assume they’re inside as well. Mikey, Raph, you take the ones by the door. Donnie, you’re with me – we go straight in and take down any Kraang in the lobby. Got it?”

His brothers nod. Donnie has to admit that he’s impressed by how quickly Leo can put together a plan. _Even if “there are some Kraang and we need to get rid of them” is not the most complex situation ever encountered._

“Mikey, you’ve got it?” Leo asks again.

“Yes, Leo, I can handle ‘get the Kraang by the door,’” Mikey says, still sounding sullen.

“And keep it quiet, guys. We don’t want an audience for this,” Leo adds. “On three... one, two, three!”

The four turtles rush forward and spring down from the roof into the street. As Mikey and Raph dart to engage the two Kraang on guard, Donnie follows Leo up the stairs and through a dingy door into a dimly-lit lobby. Two more Kraang droids, dressed in the usual coat and tie, start to turn towards them, the one on the right pulling its finger away from a buzzer. Leo heads for the one on the left. _That means the one on the right is mine._

 _Don’t think, act_. His body falls into familiar rhythms. Twirling his staff, he sends the Kraang’s gun flying away. The robot reaches for Donnie’s bo, but he pulls it back and sweeps the droid’s legs out from under it. It crashes to the floor, and Donnie reverses his staff and jabs the metal end through its head. Circuitry sparks, then the robot twitches and lies still. The Kraang controlling it bursts from its torso and scuttles for the door, emitting the usual angry, chattering whine. Donnie twirls the staff again and bashes it across the head, and it slumps to the floor.

He has been distantly aware of Leo driving the other droid back and cleaving it into sparking hunks of metal and fake flesh. _I wonder what that stuff is. I should really take a look at it under the microscope sometime. Probably not right after eating_. He turns to Leo. “This one had its finger on the buzzer, and the inner door looks intact. I don’t think they’ve made it any further into the building.”

Leo nods in agreement. “Why don’t we-“

A cry of “Booyakasha!” sounds outside; at the same time, Donnie and Leo hear the sound of heavy footsteps from further inside the building. Leo scowls. “So much for ‘keep it quiet.’ I’ll see what’s going on outside, you see who’s coming.” He gestures Donnie into the shadows – they are plentiful in the lobby – and runs back out into the street.

Donnie slips into a dark corner as a figure bursts through the inner door. Peering in the dim light, he sees a black woman, taller than himself, muscular, holding a baseball bat in one hand and glaring about her. _This must be the one who threw a punch at April. The one she thought was too dangerous for me to tangle with_.

The thought impels him out of the shadows. He steps forward, his staff at the ready, his eyes on the bat and her face. She sees him, and her eyes widen with shock. _No need for a fight here._ “We don’t mean you any-“ he begins.

Just too late to dodge, he sees the canister she’s bringing up in her left hand. Burning pain bursts across his face, though his nictitating membranes snap closed in time to spare his eyes. He gasps for breath, and the fire follows the air into his mouth and lungs. Donnie bursts into agonized coughing, slumping forward. It’s almost a relief when he feels the blow to his head, and then nothing at all.


	3. Sophie

I’m reassuring Jasmine that I’m on my way when a thought occurs to me.  “Did you get out the ta-“ I look around the crowded subway car and stop myself just in time.  “You know, the special present I got you?”

“ _Sophie._   If anyone shows up at the door, I’m sure I’ll have time to dig it out.”

“You can’t be sure of that!”  People are starting to stare and a few are shifting away from me.  I make an effort to moderate my volume.  “Remember what happened last time?”

“Kraig isn’t going to turn out to be a giant monkey, Soph.  But fine, if it’ll make you feel better, I’m getting the taser now.”

I take a deep breath.  “Good.  Good.  It’s going to be OK, Jasmine.  Don’t worry.”

“You’re doing all the worrying, sis.  I’m glad you’re coming home, but I know it’s probably nothing.”

If Kraig does show up, what will buy her some time?  “You should put the couch up against the door.  Have you put the couch up against the door?”

“No, I have not moved the couch, because it weighs a ton.”  Jasmine sounds a little irritated. 

“That’s why it should be up against the door!”  I know on some level that I’m not helping the situation any, but I can’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth.

I hear a theatrical sigh over the phone.  “OK, but I’ll have to put down the phone.  And the taser.  Unless I’m supposed to hold it in my teeth while I move the couch?”

That really doesn’t sound like a good idea.  “I’ll hold on.  If you need anything, yell and I’ll hear you.”

I hear a thumping noise, followed by a series of dragging, scraping noises.  I tell myself that it’s the sound of Jasmine moving the couch, not the sound of Kraig knocking her unconscious and dragging her out of the room.

I am perfectly aware that I’m paranoid.  But after getting a phone call from my little sister that some kind of ape was pounding on her door?  After frantically driving off the ape with pepper spray just before it reached her?  Not to mention, after my father mysteriously disappeared, and the same little sister went to investigate and wound up part cat?  Who _wouldn’t_ be paranoid about their sister’s safety?

I start breathing again when I hear Jasmine’s voice.  “Couch... is moved.”  She’s panting a little.  “Claws tore some holes in the fabric.  Sorry about that.”

She doesn’t know how much worse that couch has been through.  “Don’t worry about it.  Two more stops to go, Jasmine, I’ll be right there...  But listen, if someone starts trying to get through the door, you should be ready to block the bedroom door too.”

“Sophie, could you make up your mind whether you want to reassure me or stress me out?  Cause right now, this conversation is giving me whiplash.”

Another deep breath.  I should really buy them in bulk.  “Sorry.  Just… worried.”

“Everything’s OK here.”  Now who is reassuring who?  “Tell me about your day, Sophie.  Anything interesting happen at work?”

She must really want to distract me.  I know perfectly well that Jasmine finds my job about as interesting as dog food.  “Hmmm.  Would you rather hear about intake interviews, or paperwork?”

“I’ll take that as a ‘nothing interesting,’ then.  Norma give you a hard time about anything?”

I struggle to come up with something to say about office politics, settling for complaining about Ben in the next cubicle and his unending and loud gum-chewing habit.  This occupies me until the train reaches my stop.  “I’m getting off the train, Jasmine.  I’m going to put the phone away so I can run, but I’ll leave the line open so you can yell if anything happens, OK?”

“Sure, I’ll yell if anything happens.  Which it _won’t_.”

I slip through the doors as soon as the open, squeeze past the crowd on the stairs, and race down the street, wishing I was wearing my basketball shoes instead of the office ones.  Storming up the stairs into the lobby, I glance reflexively at my mailbox, and then jump when I realize someone is there in the shadows.  The figure steps forward and I take a moment to look her over.  I see a little red-haired girl with a ponytail, holding a math book. 

“Excuse me, but do you know Jasmine?”  Her voice is strident and a bit peremptory, as if she’s giving an order she expects me to follow.  “She’s in my math class, and we were going to get together to study.”

The hell?  Jasmine has been home-schooled for years and was too shy to have any real friends at school before that.  Plus, if she needed help with math, she would probably need to email Stephen Hawking or something.  Whatever’s showing on my face causes the girl to immediately start backpedaling.  Dammit, maybe I _should_ learn to play poker.  I stick with the skills I _do_ have and lunge at her; once I have her pinned down, I should be able to get some answers out of her.

She does some sort of fancy sideways roll, much faster than I expected, and I smash the arm I meant to pin her with into the wall.  The pain leaves me dizzy for just a moment.  I’ve always been good at playing through pain, but when I recover, she’s already disappearing out the door into the street.  I want to chase her down, but I won’t outrun her in these clothes.  Besides, I know where chasing a white girl through busy New York City streets is likely to lead.  Mom raised me with at least that much sense.  I remind myself that the important thing right now is to get to Jasmine.  Red will have to wait.

I get up to the apartment door and call to Jasmine, but it takes her a few minutes to drag the couch away from the door.  I spend the time frantically pacing back and forth.  Red’s appearance makes it clear that at least one person is actively looking for Jasmine, but there are too many things that I don’t know.  Who is Red and what’s her interest in Jasmine?  Does Kraig really know where we live?  How does Agent Bishop fit into all of this?  I don’t have any of the answers, and I don’t know how to get them.  I feel like I’m stuck on defense with no way to get on offense.

I’m stomping loudly enough that Marla from across the hall opens the door and peers out through her thick glasses to see what’s going on.  I must be glaring because she gets one look at my face and promptly closes the door again.  Jasmine finally gets our door open and I fly through it and envelop her in a hug.  She wraps her arms around me.  Her claws are digging into my back and my arm throbs where it hit the wall and I don’t care about any of that.  “I’m here, Jazz.  Everything’s going to be OK.”

She releases me, steps back, and gets a good look at my arm.  I feel wetness and realize that blood is trickling down it.  “Sophie, what happened to you?” she asks.

“It’s fine, I just banged it into the wall a little.”  She’s looking at me skeptically, her whiskers twitching.  I’d better tell her what happened.  “This girl – probably the one you saw earlier – was down in the lobby, said she was looking for you.  I tried to grab her and it didn’t work out so well.”

Jasmine gives a disapproving frown.  “You should put something on those cuts.  Maybe some ice on the arm, too.”

“Now who’s the big sister here?”  She has a good point, though, and I head for the bathroom, Jasmine trailing after me.  I glance over my shoulder to see her chewing on her lip and absent-mindedly petting her right arm with her other hand.  I turn back to her and reach over to scratch the top of her head.  “Everything will be all right, Jazz.”

Her lip is quivering.  “I just... I feel kind of like a caged animal here.  And knowing that girl was looking for me...  It makes me wonder who else knows I’m here.  What are we going to do?”

If we have to play defense, we don’t have to play it on their terms.  “I think you should pack up your things, Jasmine.  We need to find a safer place for right now.”

“Where?”

“I’m working on that.” 

She narrows her eyes, but disappears into her room.  I take a moment to rub disinfectant on my cuts, my mind racing.  Where can I take Jasmine?  Who do I dare to involve in this?  I’m pretty sure my mental list of “People I Can Trust With Jasmine’s Secret” has zero names on it.

Nikki?  She’s probably the closest friend I have.  When I’ve needed someone to go drinking with, or complain about men to, or watch a game with, Nikki’s always been there for me.  She’s also one hell of a gossip who’s blabbed just about every secret I ever told her.  I can’t trust her with one this big.

I don’t really have other close friends, and I’m certainly not prepared to hand Jasmine’s secret to an acquaintance and see how they react.  I’m on cordial terms with everyone at work, but if I told Norma we were in trouble and needed a place to stay... at best, there would be a lot of hard questions.  Not the way to keep Jasmine safe.

One of the parade of exes?  Ha ha ha, no.  If I decide we need to make the situation even worse, I’ll give one of them a call.

The police?  They were no help at all with Dad, and I really don’t want them to know about Jasmine.  Anyway,  I don’t have anything they’d take seriously.

Jasmine’s “boyfriend?”  Mikey seems sweet, but hapless, and I’m not about to seek shelter from a guy I’ve never met.  Same for any of Jasmine’s other online friends.

Dammit, there’s a reason I haven’t told anyone about Jasmine’s change.  There just aren’t any good options.  I head for my dresser and start throwing clothes in a bag as if I’ll find the answer mixed in with my shirts.

I jump when the buzzer sounds.  A male voice comes over the intercom.  “The current time is the time for the one who is called Jasmine to be meeting with the one who is the one that is to be met with at this time.”

 _Kraig_.  It has to be him; even in New York City, there can’t be two people who talk like that.  My heart is pounding, but I aim for a calm voice.  “Jasmine?  I think Kraig is downstairs.”

I hear from the bedroom, “Sophie, if this is a joke, it really isn’t a funny one.”

“Afraid I’m dead serious, sis.  I’m going to go down and see if I can get some answers out of him.”

“You’re going to what?  You’ve got to be _shitting_ me!”  If Dad ever reappears, he’s not going to be thrilled with what living with me has done to Jasmine’s vocabulary.

I reach under the couch, closing my fingers around the wooden handle, and then grab the canister of pepper spray from my purse for good measure.  “Lock the door behind me, Jasmine, and make sure you’ve got the taser ready.”

Jasmine comes darting out of the bedroom.  “I don’t understand – why go down there, Sophie?”

 _Because then I can stop him before he gets any closer to you_.  “Because I’m sick of having questions and no answers.”  I head out the door before she can argue, and linger just a moment to hear her slide the deadbolt home.

As I’m heading into the stairwell, there’s a loud crash from downstairs.  What the hell?  Is Kraig trying to break the door down?  I tighten my grip on the bat and race down the stairs in a barely controlled plummet.  I’m glad to see the door still in place, then I’m through it and looking around for Kraig.  I have to peer through the dim light – damn, never did bug the super – to see there are two forms lying on the floor.  _Are those bodies?_    Then I realize that a tall figure is emerging from the shadows, holding some sort of staff in front of it.

Holy shit, _that thing’s not human_.  I get an impressions of some sort of green-skinned – reptile?  It’s moving towards me, eyes focused on the bat, mouth opening.  I don’t like my odds – with that staff, it’s got a much longer reach than I do.  Then I remember the canister clutched in my left hand, bring it up, and douse its face with pepper spray as it starts to say, “We don’t mean you any–“

The creature doubles over, coughing, but keeps its grip on the staff.  _Still dangerous_.   I swing the bat and deliver one solid blow to its head that drops it to the ground, where it lies still.

OK, what the hell is going on here?  Is this green monster _Kraig_?  Now I realize that it didn’t sound like Kraig.  I learn forward and peer at the unmoving form.  I don’t see any clothing except a mask over the eyes, but some sort of shell covers its torso and hips.  Is that thing supposed to be a _turtle_?

There’s yelling outside, accompanied by a pinging, rattling noise that I can’t identify.  I rush to the door and look out.  The street is flashing light and dark as if pink-colored lightning is repeatedly striking.  Ranks of men, holding what look like toy guns, but the colored flashes of light are coming from them.  Other shapes, hard to make out, flicker in and out of the shadows, and each time they reappear one of the gun-wielders is gone.

I’m seriously starting to wonder what the hell I am _on_.  This is weirder than the one time I dropped acid. (That asshole Nate thought it would be hilarious to slip me some without telling me about it first.  He got a really thorough explanation of all the reasons that was not OK, afterward, right before I kicked him out of my apartment and my life.)

Another pinging noise, and one of those flashes of light hits the door, just a few feet from my head.  The damn door just _melts_ , the glass and metal folding in on itself and forming a puddle on the steps.  Trip or no trip, I’m not sticking around for any more of that.  I turn and bolt for the stairs, nearly tripping over the bodies on the floor.  I’m not going to stop to examine them, I’m not going to stop for anything, I am getting back upstairs to Jasmine and praying to the God I don’t really believe in that none of this is real.  Or, if it is, that whatever forces are fighting out there take each other out and none of them show up at my apartment door.

I hammer at the door and Jasmine looses the deadbolt to let me in.  Her eyes widen as I pant for breath.  “What is it, Sophie?  What happened?” 

“I... not sure.  There was this giant turtle, and then men with ray guns...” 

Jasmine looks worried, but not about my sanity.  I mark that down as another sign of how strange our lives have gotten.  “What are we going to do, Sophie?”

I wish I knew.  “For the moment?  Sit tight and be ready to tase anyone who comes through the door.  If... when... the coast is clear, we’ve got to get out of here.”

“You never told me where we’re going to go.”  Jasmine is flexing the fingers of her right hand, claws extending and retracting with each motion.  She doesn’t seem aware of it.

“We could try going back to Dad’s place,” I suggest hesitantly. 

Jasmine’s lower lip begins to quiver.  Somehow, it makes her look less like a cat, more human.  “I... I could try... I just keep seeing that ape ripping the door off its hinges and tossing it aside...”

I should have known better.Not for the first time, I really wish that she could talk to a therapist about this _._   I step closer and put an arm around her shoulders.  “I’m not going to make you go back there, Jazz.  It’s all right.  I’ll call a friend and see if we can stay with her.”

“How are you going to tell her about...”  Jasmine waves her left hand over her face and other arm.

“It will be all right,” I tell her, hoping she doesn’t realize that I have no idea.  Half an hour ago, I’d dismissed this option out of hand, but we’re out of good ones.  I pick up the phone and call NIkki.

She picks up right away.  “Sophie!  You change your mind about the game?  We’re down five at the half, we could sure use you.”

“Nikki.”  I pause, realizing I have no idea what to say.  A stalker, a human-shaped turtle, ray-gun-toting men, a red-haired girl, and an FBI agent – some of whom might be the same person, but I have no idea which – are after my sister?  There’s no way she’ll believe that.  _I_ barely believe that.  I’m further distracted by the sound of sirens from the street.  That must have been one hell of a 911 call.

“Sophie?  You still there?”

“Sorry, Nikki.  Look, I hate to ask, but Jasmine and I need a place to stay, right away.  This guy’s stalking her, and I need to get her somewhere safe.  Can you put us up for a bit?”

“It’s bad enough that you’re willing to expose your baby sister to my influence?  Shit, Sophie, of course you two can stay with me.  Want to come meet me at the gym?  Maybe spend a few minutes on the court, see if you remember where the hoop is?”

“Ha ha ha,” I stall.  There would be way too many eyes on Jasmine.  “Ah... Jasmine’s got a bit of a skin condition, and isn’t really comfortable hanging around strangers.  Maybe we can just wait at your building until you head home?”

Nikki’s sigh comes across the phone as a thumping noise.  “I’ll head straight there, I should beat you to the door.”

I can’t tell if she’s making me feel guilty on purpose or not.  “Nikki, you don’t have to do that, I know you’re in the middle of the game, it’ll take us a little while to get out of here...”

“Sophie, stop.  Your sister is more important than our league standing.  Plus, I want to clean up a bit before anyone sees my apartment.”  Her tone becomes gleeful.  “And besides, I figure you’ll owe me all kinds of favors.  Do you know the address?”

“Er... no.”  I can’t remember ever being over to Nikki’s place, or having her over here for that matter.  Gyms, clubs, and bars are our usual haunts.  I write down the address that she gives me, and we say a quick goodbye.

Jasmine has crossed her arms in front of her chest and is staring daggers at me.  “A _skin condition_ , Sophie?  Really?”

“Um... I was improvising?  You’re lucky I didn’t say something even dumber.  Let’s finish packing and get out of here.”

“I don’t think she’s going to buy it’s a skin condition when she gets a look at me.  Or are you planning to keep me hidden under a blanket as long as we’re there?” Jasmine asks as she heads to the bedroom.

I follow her to the door.  “It’ll be easier to explain when she sees you…  Hey, why are you heading for the computer?  You need to pack!”

“I _am_ packed, sis, and I need to let Mikey know that I’m not going to be on for a while.”  Jasmine’s tail is bushier than I’ve ever seen it.  I decide it’s prudent not to argue on this one.  Besides, _I_ need to finish packing.

I spend a few minutes throwing randomly selected clothes and toiletries into a bag.  I hear loud caterwauls from the bedroom, then Jasmine emerges pulling a suitcase in one hand and holding a cat crate in the other.  Erwin is clearly protesting his incarceration.

“Um, I didn’t say anything to Nikki about bringing a cat…”  Jasmine’s bushy tail starts to twitch.  “I’ll just give her a quick call and let her know.  You need to get covered up.” 

Nikki doesn’t pick up her phone, so I leave a voicemail to warn her that she’ll have one more house guest than she expects.  Meanwhile, Jasmine pulls on the NYU hoodie and trench coat I picked up for her at Goodwill.  She practically disappears into the oversized clothes.  Not the height of fashion, but I have to hope that they’ll keep anyone from getting a good look at her.

“I’ll run down and make sure the coast is clear.  Be back in a minute.”  I try to keep my voice calm for Jasmine’s sake, even though my treacherous heart is thundering in my chest.  I reluctantly pass up the bat, taser, and pepper spray.  If anyone’s down there now, it’s probably New York’s finest, and I don’t need them thinking I’m armed.  I unlock the door, slip through, and close it behind me.

 “Nothing to worry about, they’re all gone,” I say softly to myself, repeating it as I head down the stairs.  Somewhat to my surprise, the lobby is completely empty, with no sign of the figures I glimpsed on the floor earlier or the hulking one I’d put there myself.  I could almost think I imagined the whole thing, but there’s still a hole where the door to the street used to be, and melted remnants drying on the stairs.  If the cops have been here, they’re gone too.

I can’t make any sense of this.  Who cleaned this place up?  I shake my head; there’s no time to wonder about that now.  If we have a chance to get out of here before Kraig, Red, that turtle-man – I’ll call him Green – or whoever shows up again, we need to take it.  I charge back up the stairs and through the apartment door – which Jasmine didn’t lock, but there’s no time to make an issue of that, either.  “Everything looks clear,” I say to her.  “Grab your stuff and let’s go.”

I throw on my jacket and drop the pepper spray and taser in the pockets.  That bat would be too conspicuous, and my hands are full with suitcase, briefcase, and a bag of cat food anyway.  I lead the way down the stairs and out into the quiet street.  I start striding toward the subway station and get half a block before realizing that I’m getting ahead of Jasmine, who seems to be struggling a bit with her suitcase and Erwin.  She hasn’t had enough chances for exercise in my apartment.I stop and wait for her, even though my legs are yearning to keep moving, and then slow my pace to stay beside her.

I can’t shake the uncomfortable sensation that we’re being watched.  I eye everyone we pass suspiciously.  That old man stumbling along with a cane, those raucous teenagers, that woman in a headscarf – are any of them paying too much attention to Jasmine?  No one seems suspicious, but I keep looking around, afraid I’m missing something. 

We’ve almost reached the stairs down into the subway when four men burst out of the cross street and start running toward us, gray, metallic objects in their hands.  Jasmine doesn’t seem to have seen them yet and is heading for the stairs, sounding a little winded.  _There’s no way she can outrun them_. 

“Jasmine!  Drop everything and _run_!” I yell at her.  She turns, and I expect her to argue, but she spots the oncoming men and gives a quick nod.  _Trusting me to take care of them.  How am I going to do that?_   She lets go of the suitcase, but holds the crate to her body as she jogs down the stairs. 

I can see the four men clearly now: white men in suits, oddly angular faces, nearly identical in appearance.  They’re holding the same strange guns I saw earlier, and their eyes are following Jasmine as she disappears down the steps.  I know when it’s time to set a screen. 

“Right here!” I yell at them, throwing the briefcase at the one in front.  He fumbles it away, and now I have their attention.  I throw the suitcase as well, but now they’re ready for it and dodge aside.  I feel like there’s something weird about their movements, but there’s no time to think about it, because they’re bringing their guns up.  I dive into the stairwell for cover, scraping my leg and injured arm across the concrete steps.  The arm screams in protest.  I’m scrambling to my feet as the four figures appear at the top of the stairs, strange guns leveled in my direction.  I remember a melting door, hold up the bag of cat food like a shield, and hope that at least I’ve managed to buy Jasmine enough time.

 


	4. Leonardo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Work, vacation, illness, and a case of writer's block interceded. The remaining chapters should come without months-long waits.

Leo bursts out of the door to Jasmine’s apartment building and quickly takes in the scene. The Kraang who were guarding the door are now slumped against the wall, throwing off sparks, but a battalion of Kraang droids has emerged from the van parked down the street to confront Mikey and Raph. They have taken cover behind a parked car, but the Kraang are rapidly advancing on their position.

Splinter has told the turtles often enough that a ninja fights from the shadows. Shadows are scarce here; the night sky is overcast, but streetlights bathe the scene in light. Leo eases a shuriken from his belt, then extends his arm and flicks his wrist in a well-practiced motion, flinging another before the first reaches its target. His aim is true; the two lights nearest Raph and Mikey gutter and go out, and the scene is cast into darkness.

Raph and Mikey immediately take advantage of the situation, springing at the disoriented Kraang with sais and ‘chucks readied. Leo allows himself a slight smile as he runs toward the foe, both katanas held before him. The Kraang begin firing wildly at their unseen assailants, and Leo drops into a crouch to present a smaller target, weaving from side to side as he goes, avoiding the streaks of colorful light.

Mikey taunts the Kraang from the shadows, “Over here, purple-brains!” He dodges aside with a yell as the Kraang whirl to target him. Leo’s not sure if Mikey meant this as a distraction, but he takes the opportunity. He and Raph hit the Kraang from behind, Raph bearing two to the ground while Leo’s swords dance in an elegant kata. Splinter would be proud of his form, he thinks. He is already moving aside as the sundered droids fall to the ground.

Only three Kraang droids remain, bringing their weapons to bear on Raph and Leo. Leo quickly strikes with the blade, severing a droid’s weapon hand. Raph bursts up from his fallen targets and traps another gun between his sais, sending it flipping end over end into the alley. The last enemy gets off one quick shot that goes sizzling between Leo and Raph before a chain wraps around the droid and pulls it to Mikey, who beats out a pounding rhythm on its head and torso with his nunchucks. Leo ducks under the one-handed droid’s kick, then slashes across its torso. He winces at the blade’s scream, knowing a long night of sharpening awaits. The last droid goes down under a flurry of punches from Raph.

Leo surveys the scene. Only turtles are still moving. “Good work, guys. Time to get out of the street, before someone comes to check out all this _noise_.” He directs the last word to Mikey, who is apparently improvising a drum solo with the Kraang droid as drum kit. “I’ll go pick up Donnie.” Raph nods. It’s a pleasant change not to have to argue with him about orders. Leo wonders how long this will last.

Mikey and Raph leap up to the nearest fire escape and disappear. Leo, silently approving, moves cautiously back down the street to Jasmine’s apartment building, keeping to the shadows. He wonders why the Kraang care enough about her to send a van packed with Kraang to her building. Could it be a coincidence? No, the Kraang had specifically been communicating with her online. They must know about her relationship with Mikey.

Leo glances through the steaming remnants of the door – a stray shot must have hit it – and doesn’t see Donnie. He scans the shadows but still can’t spot him. He’s opening his mouth to compliment Donnie on his stealth skills when he realizes that Donnie is lying on the floor, not moving.

 _Oh no_. Leo leaps over the melted metal and glass and rushes to his brother’s side. Donnie’s head is partly withdrawn within his shell, and his eyes are closed. When Leo brings his head close to Donnie’s, he can hear his brother’s labored, raspy breathing and see that Donnie’s nose is running. He runs a hand over Donnie’s head and finds a nasty-feeling lump on the side.

“Donnie. Donnie, can you hear me?” he asks.

Donnie extends his head and his eyes flicker open. He opens his mouth as if to speak, then coughs violently into Leo’s ear instead. He brings a hand to his mouth and continues to cough, sharp, barking noises only partially muffled by his hand.

“Donnie, what happened to you? Was it the Kraang? Some new weapon?” Leo asks. Donnie just gives him a look of utter misery and keeps coughing. His hand is covered with snot from his nose.

Leo hears the wail of approaching sirens. “We’ve got to go, Donnie. We’re too exposed here. Can you stand up?”

Donnie pushes himself up into a sitting position, then, still coughing into his hand, extends the other hand to Leo. Leo pulls him the rest of the way up and wraps an arm around the back of his shell. Donnie leans back into the arm, and Leo has to scramble to brace his brother so he doesn’t go crashing to the ground. _He is really hurting. We’ll need to find out what the Kraang used on him, and find a way to neutralize it._ _But right now I need to get him up to the roof. I don’t think I can get him up the fire escape in this condition, though_.

His mind made up, Leo guides Donnie through the inner door and into the stairwell. He listens for the sound of movement, but the residents seem to be sticking to their rooms. He hopes none suddenly decide to emerge – things are disastrous enough as they are.  He never should have left Donnie alone on guard, or at least should have had him guard on the front steps where he’d be in sight. And how had he let a Kraang get past him to do this to Donnie?  

They reach the top of the steps and Leo leads Donnie through a metal door and onto the roof. A few steps out onto the roof, and Donnie slips from his arm to the ground, crouching there and continuing to cough. He looks like he’s trying to speak, but no words come out. Raph and Mikey break from cover and run to join Leo at Donnie’s side.

“Sewer snakes,” Raph swears, “what happened to him, Leo?”

“I don’t know,” Leo says. “Maybe he inhaled something like the gas at TCRI? He got hit on the head, too, by the looks of it.”

“Why did you leave him all alone in there?”

Leo spreads his hands wide. “I thought it was fine! We’d taken down the Kraang, and Donnie didn’t think they’d gotten any further into the building. You and Mikey were pinned down outside, remember? I just asked Donnie to keep watch. I didn’t think anything would happen to him!”

Raph scowls, leaning into Leo’s face. “You’ve got to start coming up with better plans, Leo! Leatherhead’s not gonna show up to save our bacon again.”

Leo glares into Raph’s eyes. “Says the turtle who almost got Mikey killed by Snakeweed. I’m sure you’ve got lots of great ideas.”

Raph snarls, and Mikey steps between the two angry turtles. “Guys, just chill, OK? Let’s focus on helping Donnie. And maybe finding coins.”

Leo hates to admit it, but Mikey has a point. “I want to keep watch on this building and make sure the Kraang don’t come back. Mikey, can you get Donnie safely back to the lair?”

“Sure thing, bro!”

“Raph, you’re with me. Mikey and Donnie, we’ll catch up with you in a few hours.”

“Why do I get stuck on stakeout duty?” Raph grumbles.

“Would you rather bundle Donnie into bed and take care of his injuries?” Leo asks.

Raph makes a pained grunting sound. “Stakeout duty, here I come.”

Leo nods goodbye to Mikey and the stumbling Donnie, and then heads back to the edge of the roof, pausing to shush a still-grumbling Raphael. He crouches and peers over the edge. Two police cars have pulled into the street, and Leo can see one officer talking on his radio while another two shine flashlights up and down the street.  Leo wonders what they’re making of the Kraang parts he and his brothers left scattered about.  He doesn’t normally stick around after a fight long enough to witness the police response.

A black van pulls into the street. Leo wonders briefly if the Kraang have diversified their fleet, but the figure who leaps from the passenger side as the van screeches to a halt doesn’t move like a Kraang droid. The new arrival is wearing dark clothing, with no uniform or insignia that Leo can see in the now-dimmed street. He watches as the figure approaches the police officer on the radio and displays a badge. The uniformed officer nods, and in a few moments, the police are all back in their cars and moving to block the ends of the street.

“Well, _this_ is interesting,” Leo murmurs. He holds up a hand to forestall any response from Raph.

His brother drops quietly down beside him to view the scene below. More dark figures emerge from the van, and they set about an efficient cleanup of the street.  One heads into the lobby with an empty bag and emerges a few minutes later with the bag bulging.  Leo gives silent thanks that he got Donnie out of there.  All the gathered robot parts are dumped in the back of the black van, while one member of the cleanup crew gets behind the wheel of the white Kraang van. The two police cars pull out, followed closely by the two vans, and the street is quiet again.  Leo doesn’t think he and his brothers have ever cleaned up the lair so expeditiously, no matter how angrily Splinter demanded it.

“Who do you figure _they_ were?” Raph asks. He sounds both curious and irritated.

 “I have no idea,” Leo admits. “They didn’t look like Kraang or the Foot.  The cops seemed to know them…” He shrugs. “I wonder if they’ve been cleaning up after our other fights. We should keep an eye out for them next time we get mixed up with the Kraang.”

Leo resumes watching the street, and Raph goes back to fidgeting. Leo wishes he hadn’t had to send Mikey back to the lair; he’s good at providing an outlet for Raph’s nervous energy, even if the combination isn’t ideal for stealth. He focuses himself on the scene below, letting his senses reach out to encompass it and disregard the restless turtle at his side. The street remains quiet for twenty or so minutes, then two people slip out through the ruins of the door and start heading down the street, trailing luggage behind them.

Leo studies them. One, a tall, dark-skinned woman dressed for the office, immediately outdistances the other. The trailing figure, struggling with a suitcase and a crate, is so bundled up that Leo can’t see any features or be sure of a gender. He elbows Raph. “Think one of those two might be Jasmine?”

“How am I supposed to know? All we know about Jasmine is that she likes Mikey, and I can’t tell from here if either of them is dumb enough for that.”

“We know that she likes cats,” Leo points out, “and it looks like one of them might have a cat carrier.”

Raph grunts. “That’s pretty thin, Leo.”

“We should follow them at least long enough to see where they’re going. We can still keep an eye on this building from a block or two away. Or would you rather lose Mikey’s girlfriend?” Leo’s voice sounds strained to his own ears. He’s had to make too many calls the last two nights, and too many of them have gone wrong.

Raph doesn’t answer, but starts moving along the rooftop, keeping an eye fixed on the two walkers below. Even in a crouch, he keeps pace with them easily. Leo follows. Trusting Raph to keep track of their targets, he moves his eyes from shadow to shadow and alley to alley, also glancing back at the apartment building behind them.

After a few blocks, their destination becomes clear. “Looks like they’re heading for the subway, Leo,” Raph says.

Leo gives an irritated growl. “We’re not going to be able to follow them down there without being seen.”

“Well, at least the Kraang won’t know where they’ve gone, right?” Raph offers.

Leo’s attention is caught by movement from down the cross street. “Funny you should mention the Kraang,” he mutters, gesturing towards the four running figures.

The tall woman sees them just after Leo does. She turns to her companion and yells, “Jasmine!  Drop everything and run!” Her companion, spotting the oncoming figures, drops her suitcase, but keeps her grip on the cat carrier as she runs for the stairs. The tall woman stays put, turning to face the oncoming Kraang.

“Guess the little one’s Jasmine,” Raph observes. “Looks like they could use some help.”

“Raph, be smart about this. If we just go charging in…” Raph isn’t there to hear the words, having, of course, jumped down from the rooftop and charged the Kraang droids.

Leo grimaces and follows. At least there are no other onlookers at the moment. The Kraangs’ attention has been diverted by the woman, who has thrown her briefcase at them and is following up with her suitcase. Leo admires her courage, but doubts the Kraang will be defeated by luggage. He gathers his strength and leaps onto the post at the top of the stairs. As the Kraang droids round the top of the stairs, guns trained on the woman, Leo drops down in front of the nearest two.

“Surprise!” he can’t resist declaring as he sweeps his katanas around and up. Three Kraang hands holding three Kraang guns are severed and fall, bouncing down the stairs. The remaining Kraang droid swivels to aim at Leo, then falls, sparking, a sai embedded in its head. Raph has an enormous grin.

Leo hears scurrying sounds behind him and risks a quick look over his shoulder. The woman has gotten to her feet and is running down the stairs. “No, wait!” he calls, but she doesn’t pause. He turns his attention back to the one-armed Kraang droids just in time to parry a blow that would have knocked him to the bottom of the stairs. There are only two droids now; Raph has worked quickly.

“This place is a place that Kraang should no longer be in this place,” one of his opponents announces, backing up.

“Oh no you don’t,” Raph growls, and lunges forward to trap its good arm in his sais. Leo turns to the last robotic opponent, and a quick slash with the katana separates its torso from its legs. It falls, and the Kraang within it goes scuttling into the shadows, joined a moment later by Raph’s target.

Leo quickly scans the scene. Only he and Raph are still standing, surrounded by robot parts and abandoned luggage. He gestures to the suitcases. “They might come back for these. Let’s duck into the shadows…”

“We’ve got another problem,” Raph snarls, indicating the cross street with a quick arm motion. Headlights are rapidly approaching, their source visible as a white van. _Guess it was too much to hope that they were out of those_.

“Go!” Leo orders, gesturing toward the van. Raph dashes for the corner. Leo pulls one of Donnie’s smoke bombs from his pocket and hefts it experimentally, then hurls it at the van’s windshield. A cloud of purple smoke envelops the van, and Leo hears the squealing of tires and then a reverberating crash. As he runs toward the smoke, he hopes that no humans were hurt and that this is the last group of Kraang he and Raph have to take on tonight.

The smoke begins to clear, and Leo can see the van rammed up against a street light, hood crumpled and smoking. He can hear Raph grunting and yelling from the back of the van. Leo launches himself at the driver’s door; he’s not sure if the van is driveable, but he wants to make sure that the Kraang don’t drive off with Raph in the back. Once was more than enough. The driver’s gun is only half-drawn when Leo stabs his katana through the window into its chest; the droid sparks, then its head drops to its chest and Leo hears the chittering of the Kraang inside.

The droid in the passenger seat is bringing up its weapon. Leo launches himself through the window, sword out, but the enemy manages to deflect his stroke with the gun barrel. It throws the damaged gun at Leo, then follows up with a punch at his head. There’s no room to dodge with his body across the front seats and his legs hanging out the window; instead, Leo brings up his arm and deflects the punch. Pain throbs in the arm, but he ignores it, grabs the droid, and pulls it toward him, raining blows on its head and torso. The robot struggles to escape, then, with a loud crack, stops moving.

Leo pulls himself the rest of the way under the car, gets his feet under him, and shoulders open the passenger side door. The back of the van has gone quiet. “Everything OK back there, Raph?” he asks.

Raph swings out from behind the van. There are new scratches running across his shell, but he wears a gleeful grin. “Just fine. I thought you were going to miss the whole party for a moment there.”

“Great,” Leo says. “Let’s grab those suitcases and get out of here before anyone else shows up.”

“We’re stealing luggage now?” Raph asks.

“I don’t think their owners are coming back soon after being chased into the subway by killer robots,” Leo says. “If we leave them here, someone else is going to steal them. We can give them back when we find them again.”

“So how are we gonna do that?” Raph asks as he and Leo jog back toward the subway stairs.

“Maybe there’ll be a clue in the luggage,” Leo says. “Or maybe Donnie can track them down again, once he’s doing better.”

Leo can hear sirens, as well as doors and windows opening. After they scoop up the suitcases, he throws down his other smoke bomb. “Disappear,” he hisses to Raph, and they head for the rooftops to begin the journey back.

* * *

“Be sure you don’t say anything about Jasmine to Mikey,” Leo reminds Raph as they approach the turnstiles.

“You’ve told me that four times on the way back,” Raph points out. “It’s like you think you’re talking _to_ Mikey.”

Leo grimaces. ”Sorry. I’m just not up for a Mikey pouting session.”

They jump the turnstiles to find Mikey sprawled out on the couch with Donnie’s laptop, tapping at the keys. He turns to look at them for a second, mumbles “Hey,” and goes back to his typing.

“Where’s everyone else, Mikey?” Leo asks. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Raph heading up to his room.

“Donnie’s in the lab.” Mikey answers laconically.

“Is he doing any better?”

“I guess so. He told me I was driving him crazy and should go somewhere else and leave him alone, so I figured he was doing OK. Oh, and Sensei woke up when the two of us came in and asked a few questions about what had happened. He said something about you waking him up if there was anything important for him to know.” Information delivered, Mikey turns back to the laptop, turning the screen so Leo can’t see it.

Leo ponders his report to Splinter. _So we went to rescue Mikey’s secret girlfriend who we haven’t told you about, then Donnie got hurt fighting some Kraang, and Mikey’s girlfriend took off and we don’t know where she is._ Yes, that can definitely wait until morning, or, preferably, forever. “I’m going to go check on Donnie,” he says to Mikey, who responds with a grunt.

Heading into the lab, Leo sees Donnie slumped in front of his computer. A makeshift set of straps is holding an ice pack to his head. Leo winces at the reminder of his brother’s injury, but is glad to see Donnie’s eyes bright and alert as he turns his head toward Leo.

“Hey, Leo. Sorry to mess up our stakeout plans for the night,” he says ruefully.

“Sorry I left you there to get jumped,” Leo says. “Do you have any idea what the Kraang used on you?”

Donnie shakes his head. Hesitantly, he says, “It wasn’t the Kraang. It was a human woman with a baseball bat and a can of what I think was pepper spray.”

“What?” Leo asks, eyes wide. “How’d she manage to do this to you?”

“She was a trained ninja cyborg sent back from the future specifically to defeat us, Leo. How do you think?” Donnie says, his voice rising. “I was careless. I didn’t see the pepper spray, and I didn’t react fast enough.”

Leo is in no mood to rub Donnie’s face in his embarrassment. “Tall, dark, dressed for the office?” he asks.

“Yup, that sounds like her.”

“She left the building with Jasmine a little while later.” Leo quickly brings Donnie up to date on events since he was knocked out.

“So you don’t know where she is now?” Donnie asks, getting a nod from Leo. “I was just thinking about a locator. If she has GPS on her phone and it’s turned on, I should be able to use that to track her down.  But I’ll need to find out her phone number.”

“All right.” Leo claps Donnie on the shoulder, relieved that someone has an idea of how to proceed. “Make sure you get some rest. I don’t think an all-nighter is the recommended treatment for a head injury.”

“Leo, I’m fine,” Donnie grits out. “But I promise I’ll get some sleep.”

* * *

_Karai looks into Leo’s eyes. “You were right about the Shredder,” she says. “Thank you for getting me out of there.”_

_She reaches out, takes hold of Leo’s shoulder, and shakes it. “Wake up, Leo,” she says. “Leo, you need to…”_

“Wake up,” Donnie is saying as Leo opens his eyes.

Leo glances foggily at the clock and groans. He’s gotten about 3 hours of sleep. “What is it, Donnie?”

“Jasmine just sent Mikey a message…” Donnie answers.

“You’re still reading their messages? Donnie, that’s a little creepy,” Leo says.

“No, I’m not! I wrote a program that uses heuristics to monitor their conversation for key words and phrases that might signify she’s in danger.”

“That still sounds like you’re reading her messages,” Leo points out.

“ _Heuristics_ , Leo!” Donnie insists.

“I don’t know what those are!”

Donnie’s face twitches. Leo guesses that his desire to explain heuristics at length is warring with his need to relay the message. After a moment, Donnie sighs and says, “So the message that Mikey got from Jasmine…”

Leo groans again and swings his feet over the side of the bed. If Donnie thinks this is important enough that he’s passing up a chance to Explain Science, he doubts he’ll be getting any more sleep tonight.

“She says she’s being attacked by alien robots and needs his help right away.”


	5. Sophie

I always liked to think that I’d be able to face death with my eyes open, but with four gun barrels in my face, I can’t help closing them. They sound different going off at close range, a loud shearing, ripping sound. After a moment I realize that I’m not dead and open my eyes to see a massive green shell filling my visual field. Green, of all the improbable things, has appeared in front of me, wielding a pair of wicked-looking swords. It looks like he’s managed to chop the men’s guns in half. Looking at his back, it’s clear that he is, in fact, some sort of giant turtle, and then I realize there’s another one of him behind the men. Two giant turtles? I spend a moment trying to tell which one is the one I fought in the lobby, and then I realize that I should get out of here and turn and run down the stairs. I can hear someone yelling at me to wait. Good luck with that, turtles and identical suit-men; there is no way I’m sticking around.

I find Jasmine waiting for me just inside the station. “Sophie, what happened?” she asks. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” I say. Against all odds, I am. I have some cuts and bruises from diving down the stairs, but I didn’t get _melted_. Cuts and bruises I can live with. “Why did you stop here? You should have kept going. What if they had come down the stairs instead of me?”

“I’m sorry, I just… I didn’t want to leave you.” I can’t see Jasmine’s face under the, but her voice quavers a bit, and I know how shaken she is.

Why was I just yelling at my sister? Adrenaline, right. I snake one arm around her and pull her into a hug. “It’s all right, sis. Now let’s get on a train before the gunmen or the turtles come looking for us.”

“Turtles, as in more than one?” Jasmine asks. “Did I miss something?”

I guide her toward the turnstiles. “Two of them showed up and started fighting the suits. I didn’t stick around to see what happened after that.”

“Is this really all about me? Maybe we just walked into something unrelated?”

I think back. The phone calls, Kraig’s messages to her, the men with guns making a beeline for her… I’m pretty sure I know the right answer, but it’s not the one she wants to hear. I settle for, “I don’t know, Jazz. Let’s get clear of them, and then we can ponder these questions during many long days of never seeing them again.”

I know in my gut she’s not buying it, but she lets it go. I swipe my MetroCard, half expecting something weird to happen, that the screen will fill with gibberish or messages from Kraig. Instead I get the mundane “GO.” Jasmine has to swipe her three times before the system registers it, but that’s hardly unusual.

I head for the platform, but after a few steps, Jasmine grabs hold of my hand. “Sophie! What happened to my suitcase? And yours?”

 _Shit_. “I had to leave them,” I say.

The quaver’s back in her voice. I can tell that she’s trying really hard to hold it together. “But Sophie… all my things. My clothes, my toothbrush…”

“Are not as important as you,” I say firmly. “I’ll try to recover them when it’s safe.” Slim chance of that; our things are probably gone for good. I hope the hood keeps her from seeing my face, too, as I give her hand what I hope is a reassuring squeeze. “For now, Nikki can lend you something to wear.” She’s close enough to Nikki’s height for that to be plausible. I have no idea what _I_ will find to wear; Nikki’s head barely comes up to my nose. But that doesn’t matter right now, nothing matters but getting Jasmine on the train and away from her pursuers.

Jasmine gulps once and starts walking again. I always used to think of myself as the strong one. Shows what I knew. I walk with her, relieved to see no signs of pursuit when I glance over my shoulder.

The train comes rushing into the station right as we’re walking up to the tracks. I keep glancing back, but see no sign of Green or the suits. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding as we board the train; it’s about time that we catch a break.

The car is about half-full. Jasmine slumps into a seat, clutching the cat carrier. After staying quiet through all the yelling and running down stairs, Erwin apparently decides that now is the time to start complaining about his confinement. I will never understand cats. His squeaks bring some curious glances from the other passengers. I stand in front of Jasmine, positioning myself to block her from view as much as possible. We don’t need anyone spotting her whiskers or tail and getting suspicious.

As the train lurches into motion, Erwin escalates from mewing noises to a full-blown yowl. More heads turn our way. I scan them, looking for anyone who looks like the suits, or Red, or is staring a bit too hard. At least I don’t need to worry about the turtles – even in New York, they would draw attention.

A dreadlocked man in a leather jacket keeps looking at us, then looking away when my gaze falls on him. I frown and mutter to Jasmine, “I don’t like the way that one guy’s staring at us. Maybe we should get off at the next stop and look for another train.”

Jasmine sniffs. “I’m guessing that he’s staring at us because you are _glaring_ at him. Maybe you should try out not glaring first, and keep switching trains in reserve as Plan B?”

“I’m not glaring at anyone, and how would you know if I was? You can’t see anything from under there.”

“I can practically _hear_ you glaring at him,” Jasmine says. “I can smell the air ionizing in front of you from the fiery power of your glare.”

“Ha. Or you’re making a lucky guess.”

“The odds _are_ in my favor.” Jasmine sounds more relaxed, maybe distracted by the banter? Or maybe just trying to keep _me_ calm. I look over at our observer again, but he seems to have lost interest. Jasmine might be on to something.

The train reaches the next stop, and I inspect the new rush of passengers. I start to go for my jacket pocket when I see a white man in a suit boarding, but he’s got sandy brown hair and is maybe half a foot shorter than the suits we are running from. I keep an eye on him anyway. Maybe they have allies that _aren’t_ – what? Identical quadruplets? Clones? I’ll save those questions for when we’re safe. I don’t need more to freak out about anymore.

I realize belatedly that Jasmine was just saying something to me. I got too distracted by the noise of the crowd and my own thoughts. “Sorry, sis, what was that?” I ask. “I was spacing out a little there.”

“You mean looking for new glare targets?” Jasmine says as the train pulls away again. “I was wondering why I’ve never met Nikki, even though it seems like you’ve been best friends for years.”

She really ought to know the answer to this one. By the time I met Nikki in college, I was spending as little time under Dad’s roof as possible. I certainly wasn’t going to invite my basketball buddies over to be targets of his scorn. And more recently, she hasn’t exactly been getting to meet any new people. I really don’t want to get into all of this now, so I shrug and say, “You know, just doing my best to keep you away from bad influences.”

A twitching whisker pokes out from under Jasmine’s hood. I reach out and smooth the hood back over it, looking warily around to see if anyone’s noticed, but no one’s reacting.

“So what exactly makes Nikki such a bad influence?” she asks.

“Well, she swears a lot, she likes to drink and party, she has a lot of brief relationships…”

“Are you sure those aren’t the reasons that _you’re_ a bad influence?”

“Ouch.” I put a hand on my shoulder to show I’m not actually hurt.

“The truth hurts,” Jasmine mutters, but she leans into my hand.

We go through a few stops just standing together like that. Then it’s time to change trains, and I go back on high alert as I scan the station. If anyone managed to follow us, this would be their best chance to intercept us, with plenty of room to hide in the bustling crowds. I don’t spot any familiar faces or anything else suspicious, though, as we head to the platform and wait for the next train.

When it arrives, it seems to disgorge half the population of New York. I have a panicked vision of the crowd sweeping Jasmine away, and reach out to grab her arm, too hard. She winces but doesn’t complain. I shoulder our way onto the train, keeping hold of Jasmine. At least this should make it even more difficult for anyone trying to follow us.

Jasmine stands on tiptoe to whisper in my ear. “Sophie, you didn’t tell me that the city had collectively abandoned the street for the subway,” she accuses.

I chuckle. “I don’t think it’s any different than it was.”

“Maybe I’ve changed,” she says, a bit ruefully. “Cats don’t like being confined with a lot of other cats.” Erwin yowls to remind us that they’re not fans of being confined, period.

“You’re probably just not used to crowds because you’ve been cooped up in my apartment.” I give her a reassuring smile.

“That too,” she says. I wish I could see whether she’s smiling back.

Another stop brings more people flowing off and on the train. Surrounded by a panoply of everyday people – some in plain dress, others favoring outlandish attire, but all reassuringly _New York_ – the fight outside my apartment and the chase as the subway station seem increasingly surreal. I try to replay the scenes in my head, but they seem to be getting blurrier and more confused each time.

I try to impose some order on my thoughts. What are my priorities? Right now I’m making sure Jasmine is safe, which is the most important thing. In the morning, I’ll need to run out and get us some toiletries and maybe some clothes – call that priority number two. Then priority three can be trying to find out what’s going on, who’s after Jasmine, and how I can make them stop.

It would be a plus if I still had a job after all of that. Call it priority four.

I take note of the stop we’re leaving and nudge Jasmine. “Next stop is ours.” She nods and lifts the crate full of still-protesting cat.

When the train comes to a stop, we slip out the doors and ascend the stairs back into the cloudy night. I keep scanning the streets for threats, but I’m also worrying as I think about where we’re going. When I originally called Nikki, I thought I was getting us away from a weird and terrifying confrontation at my apartment building. But now I have pretty damn good evidence that these things are after Jasmine. Is it fair of me to involve Nikki at all? At the very least, I should tell her… something. What the hell am I going to tell her?

Erwin wails discontentedly. “Not far now, Erwin,” Jasmine reassures him. “That’s right, isn’t it? Sophie,” she adds when I don’t respond.

I wave my thoughts away. We have nowhere else to go. I guess I’ll figure out what to tell Nikki when I see her. “Yeah, it’s just a few blocks.”

“Hear that, Erwin?” Jasmine asks him with a brightness that sounds a little forced. “We’re almost there, and then we can get you out of this carrier.” Erwin wails again, sounding not at all mollified.

The streets aren’t very busy – maybe everyone really _is_ on the subway? – and no one we pass seems to pay us the slightest attention. Still, I’m relieved to get off the street when we reach the beat-up building housing Nikki’s apartment. I jab the buzzer.

Nikki’s voice greets me right away. “That you, Sophie?”

“It’s me. Look, Nikki, I really appreciate…”

The door buzzes. “I’m not leaving you down there on the intercom. We can talk when you get up here.”

The elevator bears a battered-looking “Out of Order” sign, so we head up the six flights of stairs. I call for a break after three flights because Jasmine is huffing and puffing. Another priority: figure out a way to let her get more exercise. “Do you want me to take Erwin the rest of the way?”

Jasmine hands him over gratefully. The cat is less grateful and complains the rest of the way up. Apparently I don’t hold the crate to his satisfaction.

I tap on Nikki’s door and she opens it immediately. “I was wondering if you’d gotten lost, or you were still waiting for the elevator to show up.” She beckons us into the apartment. “Sorry the place is a bit of a mess.”

Nikki’s apartment is smaller than mine – three people and a cat are going to be a tight fit – but looks immaculate. Her “mess” consists of two dishes in the sink and one sock on the floor. I set Erwin’s carrier down on a couch.

Nikki is looking back and forth at Jasmine and me with a bit of a frown. “Um, do you have any other things? If you left them downstairs, they’re liable to walk off.”

I sigh. Guess it’s time to start trying to explain things. “We actually had to leave them a ways back. Er, some guys were chasing us.”

Nikki holds up a hand. “Whoa! Did Jasmine’s stalker bring friends?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “Things got kind of weird.”

She pats a couch. “Have a seat and tell me about it.” She turns to Jasmine. “And you must be Jasmine! It’s good to finally meet you.” She extends her hand.

I realize what’s happening a fraction of a second in advance, too late to do anything to stop it. Jasmine, of course, hasn’t had any practice shaking hands since the change happened. So old instincts take over, and she sticks out her right hand to grab Nikki’s. The _cat_ hand.

Nikki starts when Jasmine touches her hand, glances down, and shrieks and jumps back. _Oh shit_.

“Like I said, things have gotten weird,” I say hastily. “I can explain…”

Jasmine is standing very still. Nikki slowly reaches out and pulls back her hood to reveal my sister’s half-human, half-feline face. Nikki’s eyes get very wide, but at least she doesn’t yell again. And then, to my total bewilderment, she starts to laugh, softly at first but then louder and louder until she is doubled over and gasping for breath.

“Uh, Nikki?” I ask.

She half straightens up, still gasping. “A _skin condition_ , Sophie. You said in this weird voice… that she had a skin condition. So I was trying to figure out what was up… and all I could think of was that she was _pregnant_ … and that didn’t make any sense, why wouldn’t you just tell me? I couldn’t sort it out. But _this_? This did not occur to me.”

I’m worried that this is hurting Jasmine’s feelings, but she doesn’t look unhappy. In fact, she’s looking at Nikki and her eyes are shining.

Nikki does have this effect on people. Once, after a bit too much to drink, I told her that I thought that Greek goddesses must have looked like her, all olive skin and curly black hair and a smile that can warm you right through your bones. She laughed and told me that I look like Tamika Catchings. Which is a lie, but a kind one.

“You’re… not afraid of me?” Jasmine asks.

Nikki directs that warm smile at her. “Oh, hon, no! I was just startled.”

She’s probably handling Jasmine’s appearance better than I did the first time. I feel a weird mixture of relief and irritation. “So, Nikki, what would it take to really shock you?”

She shrugs with a grin. “In this city? I don’t even know, at this point. I dated this girl whose little brother delivered pizza, and he had told her about some _weird_ shit – sorry, Jasmine – he’d seen. She swore he wasn’t making it up. And then there was this cop…”

“Officer Handsy?” I ask.

“You remember him! He said they’d taken some… well, he said ‘monsters’ into custody, then some kind of SWAT team showed up and hauled them all off.”

“What kind of monsters?” Jasmine asks.

“He said they debated if it was a job for the police or Animal Control,” Nikki says. “I’m wondering now if they were, ah, people like you. Are there more people like you?”

“I really don’t know,” Jasmine says. She sounds lonely and tired and regretful, and I move over to rub her shoulder. She gives me a grateful smile. “I found this container of goo in my dad’s lab. It got on my hand and that’s when I…” She swallows. “Changed. I don’t know if that was the only container, or if anyone else could have gotten into it.”

“I ran across some giant turtle people,” I throw in.

Nikki’s forehead crinkles. “That’s a hell of a thing to just toss into the conversation. Are they the ones who were chasing you and Jasmine?”

“Sort of,” I hedge. “We were trying to get away from them, but then they were actually fighting the other men who were after us.”

“The other men?”

“Uh, identical-looking white guys in suits,” I say.

Nikki looks increasingly bewildered, and Erwin chooses this moment to let out a yowl “Is it OK if I let him out?” Jasmine asks. Nikki nods, and Jasmine opens the door on the crate. Erwin promptly vanishes under the couch.

“Sophie, have I ever told you that you’re a lousy storyteller?” Nikki asks.

“I’m not sure. Probably. You’ve told me I’m lousy at so many things, it’s hard to keep track.”

“Could you maybe try starting at the beginning?”

I take a deep breath. “So it was yesterday that things started getting really weird.” I fill Nikki in on the events of the last two days – the messages from Kraig, Agent Bishop’s phone call, the red-haired girl, Kraig’s appearance at the apartment, the fighting between the turtles and the suits, and our flight to her apartment. Jasmine confirms everything I say, throwing in the odd detail that I forget. Describing everything doesn’t make it feel any more real, more like I’m repeating a story that someone told me.

Nikki has flopped down on the other end of the couch in the course of my explanation. “Even with the stories I’ve heard, Sophie, if it was anyone but you… I wouldn’t believe this. But I trust you, and besides, you’re too shitty a liar – sorry, Jasmine – to be making this up. So you decided my apartment was the best place to hide out from the weirdo brigades?”

I might as well go with the truth, since apparently I can’t lie worth a damn. “I couldn’t think of anywhere else. I didn’t think… It honestly didn’t occur to me that I might be putting you in danger until I was almost here. We’ll go find another place if you…”

Nikki’s eyes are fierce. “Don’t even think about it. If anyone wants to hurt Jasmine, they’ll have to get past both of us.” Her tone is surprisingly protective, given that she just met Jasmine. I know Nikki has a sister that she doesn’t talk to. I wonder what happened between them.

Jasmine yawns and stretches, arching her back. “Nikki, do you maybe have a computer I could use?”

“Sure thing…” Nikki starts to say, but I cut her off.

“Oh, no. No more messages to Mikey.”

“But he’s got to be worried!”

“Who’s Mikey?” Nikki asks.

“Online boyfriend,” I say. “Jasmine, Kraig was sending you messages on the dating site even after you blocked him, and then he showed up at our place. It’s too risky to log in again from here. You can get a message to Mikey tomorrow, from somewhere else.”

“Take it from me,” Nikki adds. “If he insists on knowing what you’re doing at every moment, you don’t want to have anything to do with him.”

Jasmine pouts but doesn’t argue. “Fine.”

“You two look exhausted,” Nikki says. “Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll run out in the morning and get some breakfast and anything else you need, and we can talk about what to do next. Sophie, can you give me a hand with the couch?”

Folding out the couch proves to be a somewhat complicated operation – it takes up most of the living space, so the table and chairs need to be pushed into a corner. The mattress looks old and lumpy and incredibly inviting. It’s been a long day.

“Good night,” Nikki says cheerily, as she disappears behind the purple-and-blue curtain that screens off her bedroom. Well, “room” is a little strong; “nook” might be more accurate.

I toss my coat on a chair and collapse onto the mattress, noticing but not really caring that my feet stick off the end by an inch or so. Jasmine curls up on the foot of the bed by my feet. “I don’t feel that sleepy,” she says softly. “I’ve gotten used to staying up later.”

“You might have to make an earlier start in the morning,” I note. “Try to at least take a bit of a catnap?”

She snorts. “You’re hilarious, Sophie.” She wriggles a bit closer to my leg.

I close my eyes, thoughts whirling through my head. What will we do tomorrow? How do I get control of the situation? _There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep_ , I think, and then almost immediately lose consciousness.

#

I wake up to a sharp pain in my leg. Erwin must have gotten onto the bed and started kneading. I kick my foot up a bit and snarl, “Erwin! Get off!”

“It’s me, Sophie,” Jasmine hisses. “Sorry to poke you, but I think someone’s in the hall.”

I listen. Sure enough, I hear the sound of heavy footsteps – more than one or two. “Get the taser. It’s in my coat pocket,” I whisper back. “I’ll wake Nikki.”

I spare a glance at the door to verify that the dead bolt is in place and slip behind the curtain, as quietly as I can. Nikki’s curled up on her side, wearing a teddy-bear-print nightgown that I never would have guessed she owned. I tap her on the shoulder. “Nikki? Someone’s here.”

“Whaaa?” she mumbles.

The door rattles, than a loud voice speaks from the hallway. “The one known as Jasmine will cause the door that is closed to be the door that is open, or… the door that is closed will be the door that is no more.”

 _Kraig_. How the hell does he keep finding us? At least Nikki looks more awake now. “What’s going on?” she murmurs.

“Kraig’s threatening to break down your door,” I tell her.

Nikki sits up in a rush, then reaches under her bed and pulls out a baseball bat. I have a moment of regret for the one I had to leave behind. She calls out, “Jasmine, get back here! Come on, Sophie,” and heads for the apartment door.

Jasmine’s eyes are wide, and the parts of her face not hidden by fur are really pale. Kraig is going to suffer for what he’s putting her through. She ducks behind the curtain as Nikki takes up a station by the door, bat raised. I grab the can of pepper spray and start heading to the door myself, but there’s a heavy impact against it, and I jump clear as it crashes into the room with a squeal of protesting metal.

One of the suits – a dead ringer for the ones who chased us into the subway – comes stumbling through the doorway. Nikki brings the bat down hard on his head, but it rebounds with an audible clang and she stumbles back. What the hell? I run forward, unleashing a cloud of pepper spray into his eyes. He doesn’t even seem to blink as his arm catches me across the mouth. I feel a sense of vertigo and everything goes black for a moment, then a giant hand smacks me across the back. I drop and land on something soft.

I blink. There’s a sour taste of blood in my mouth. I’m lying on the mattress on the other side of the room. I must have hit the wall. How the hell did he hit me that hard? I try to block out the pain and push myself up, but my arms give out.

I look around, trying to take in the situation, despite my ringing ears and blurred vision. Three more suits have followed my attacker through the door, and there’s someone else – a woman? – behind them. Nikki has crumpled to the floor and isn’t moving. As if from a great distance, I hear Jasmine yell, “Sophie! No!” I slowly turn my head, just in time to see her duck out from behind the curtain and fire the taser at the lead suit.

Blue tendrils of electricity run up and down his body, and sparks fly everywhere. There’s an odor of ozone and seared meat, and the flesh on his face starts blistering and tearing off in places, revealing some kind of metal underneath. He staggers, then collapses to the ground, twitching and sparking. His… its… stomach suddenly opens up to reveal a new horror – pink and tentacled, with eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Keening, it scuttles toward the apartment door.

This _cannot_ be happening. I will myself to wake up. Nothing changes.

Jasmine is standing, looking stunned, the taser dangling from her hand as if forgotten. Two suits step over the smoking remnants of their fellow and grab her arms. She tries to twist away, but they’re clearly too strong for her. They turn and start roughly hauling her toward the door.

I’m not going to lie here and let these things haul off my sister. Pulling together all the energy I have, I manage to rise to my hands and knees with a grunt of pain. The nearest suit casually backhands me across the side of the head. I collapse on the mattress, and everything goes black.

I come to with Nikki bending over me. “Sophie! Sophie, can you hear me?”

I blink at her. The side of my head aches dully. I raise a hand to it, and find my hair matted in blood. I stare around. The suits are gone, leaving their fellow where he – it? – fell. There’s no sign of Jasmine.

“Sophie?” Nikki’s voice is higher, nearly panicked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” It hurts to force the words past my lips. I remember her lying on the floor. “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine. Took one hit and decided I’d better go down and stay that way. These guys aren’t as smart as your average ref, that’s for sure. But you look like hell. We’ve got to get you to a hospital.”

“Forget that,” I snarl back. “They’ve got my sister, Nikki. I’ve got to get her back.”

“You think a second round against these guys is going to go any better? You’ve probably got a concussion. And they are...” She gestures at the body on the floor. Her voice rises again. “I don’t know what the hell these things are, or how you can take them on.”

“We need help,” I concede. I rack my brain for ideas. “There was that FBI agent asking after Jasmine, Bishop. He might have the firepower to take these guys on.”

“You told me you didn’t trust him.”

“I don’t!” I really wish I could hit something right now. I settle for banging my hand against the mattress. “But at this point I’d rather take my chances with him then leave Jasmine with these… these… alien robots.”

 _Wait_.

I remember Jasmine smiling, saying, "He says that he and his brothers are going out to fight alien robots anyway. Mikey cracks me up!"

This can’t possibly be a coincidence. _Mikey_ knows something about the beings that took Jasmine.

And I know one sure way to reach Mikey.

I turn to Nikki. “I’m going to need your computer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have been overconfident about how long this chapter would take. I'll avoid making promises again, but will try to finish the last two more quickly.


	6. Raphael

**On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Turtle**

**Chapter 6: Raphael**

Raph wakes up to a stinging cold sensation in his cheek. Sitting up, he sees Leo standing in the doorway, throwing ice cubes at him. Leo probably figures that this way he won’t get a punch in the face for his trouble like the time he shook Raph awake.

“All right, all right! No more ice! Is sleep just not a thing we do anymore?” he grumbles at Leo.

“We have to go, Raph,” Leo says urgently. “Donnie just got a message that Jasmine sent Mikey. She says the Kraang are attacking her.”

“Donnie’s reading all of Mikey’s mail, now?” Raph is in motion as he talks, getting out of bed, stretching his muscles, and tucking his sais in his belt. He notices that Spike’s leaf is mostly chewed and drops another one in front of the sleeping turtle.

“Apparently he’s having the computer read it for him. Are you ready yet?”

Raph grunts in assent. “I guess it’s just you and me on this one? Donnie’s pretty wrecked, and Mikey’s gonna flip if he finds out this is all about his girlfriend.”

“Keep it down!” Leo hisses. “We’re bringing them too. Donnie’s been working on a locator that might help us find Jasmine if the Kraang have her. And there were a lot of Kraang after her – we may need Mikey for that fight.”

“What are you gonna tell him?” Raph asks.

“Hey-o!” Mikey sings out from the door. He looks annoyingly bright-eyed and enthusiastic. “Donnie says we’re going out again?” Donnie’s behind him, looking like he hasn’t slept in weeks.

“Yes,” Leo says. “He’s been picking up some unusual Kraang activity, so we need to get out there and stop whatever they’re planning.”

Raph thinks it’s a crappy lie – since when was Donnie able to monitor Kraang activity? – but Mikey just pumps his arm and says, “Right on, bro!”

The four turtles spill down the stairs and into the Shellraiser. Raph vaults into his seat, hands curving over the weapon controls. Hopefully some Kraang will present themselves as targets. That would go some way toward salvaging this awful night. Donnie, lagging a bit behind, stumbles to his station and collapses into the seat.

Raph glares at him. “Donnie, you shouldn’t even be here!” he snaps.

“I’ll be fine!” Donnie snaps back.

“Hey, guys, maybe save it for the Kraang?” Mikey says.

Raph snarls before shutting up. Mikey’s right, and anyway, it’s not Donnie he’s angry at right now. Much as he’d like to stomp up to Leo and give him a piece of his mind, it’ll have to wait. They can have it out in a sparring match later.

Leo guns the engine, and they roar through the sewers and out into the New York night. He’s pushing the Shellraiser’s engine harder than he usually does, whipping past the few other drivers on the road in his haste to follow Donnie’s directions. Raph scans the area for targets. He hates sitting still. He’d much rather be at the wheel if there’s nothing to shoot, but Leo hogs it every time they go out, and Donnie always backs him up.

They squeal to a stop in front of a brownstone – the address in the message Donnie intercepted, Raph supposes. Everyone pops out of their seats, but Leo puts a hand up, palm out. “Mikey, Raph, you’re with me. Donnie, stay in the Shellraiser.”

Raph expects Donnie to argue, but he just nods in agreement. He must be feeling pretty wretched. At least Leo’s not planning on throwing him into a fight.

Leo quickly gestures them around the side of the building and up the fire escape to the roof, where they gather by the access door. “All right,” Leo says. “The, ah, Kraang activity Donnie picked up was on the sixth floor, so we’ll go in, down two floors, and find apartment 6E.”

Mikey nods eagerly. Raph wants to get in and busy some Kraang heads, but he feels a little wary, and someone’s got to be cautious if Leo can’t be bothered. “This smells like a trap, Leo. You sure about this?”

“You have a better plan?” Leo retorts.

Raph glowers back at him. “Coming up with the plans is your job.”

“Keep your eyes open when we get in there. If there’s a trap, we’ll turn it back on them.”

“Let’s _go_ ,” Mikey says, vibrating a little.

Raph wrenches the roof door open, and they spring down the darkened stairs. The light’s brighter once they get down to the 7th floor, and Leo takes the lead, checking each corner to make sure no one’s coming.

There’s no sign of anyone. Raph writes this off to the late hour, until they get down to the 6th floor and work their way past 6H, 6G, and 6F to find that the next apartment is minus a door. The remnants of the hinges hang, twisted, against the door frame. The apartment beyond is dark, but Raph thinks he hears furtive breathing.

Leo makes some of the unnecessarily complicated hand signals that he loves so much. Raph is pretty sure they amount to, “Take up position by the door and get ready for action.” Well, _duh_ , fearless leader. Raph flattens himself against the wall, sais ready, as Mikey bounces up to the ceiling, swings past the door, and drops down on the other side.

Leo braces himself against the wall opposite the door and then springs across the hallway and into the apartment, entering a tumbling roll that takes him well into the room beyond. A baseball bat swings across the doorway in Leo’s wake, too late to hit him. Mikey lashes out with his kusarigama and yanks the bat away, and Raph spins around the doorframe to confront a shadowy figure standing opposite the former bat wielder. The enemy’s bringing up a club or canister, so Raph strikes at its hand with a sai, sending the weapon flying into the corner of the room.

“Fuck!” the figure exclaims, and aims a punch at Raph’s head. He blocks it, ducks the followup punch, and aims a blow at his opponent’s gut. It feels like his fist hits flesh, not metal or whatever horrid substance Kraang are made out of, and his target doubles over, coughing. Raph puts the pieces together and steps back instead of pressing the attack.

“Leo! I don’t think they’re Kraang!” he calls out.

“You _think_?” Leo replies. Looking over his shoulder, Raph sees that his brother has the other figure at bay. Mikey steps in the door and, after searching for a moment, flips on the light switch. Their would-be ambushers are revealed in the light as a pair of human women. Raph’s opponent is tall – taller than Donnie, even – and looks like she’s already lost one fight tonight, at least. She’s covered in cuts and bruises, and her eyes look a bit unfocused.

Right now she’s goggling at Raph and his brothers. “Green? How… what… what the hell?” She breaks into a renewed fit of coughing.

Raph places her – the woman who’d run into the subway station after Jasmine. She’s not making much sense right now. Maybe she’s suffered too many blows to the head tonight?

Leo lets the points of his katana drop. “You can lower your weapons, guys. We’re all on the same side here.” Raph follows Leo’s lead, lowering his sais but not sheating them.

“I’m not so sure of that,” the other woman says, sounding thoroughly pissed off. Raph shifts his position to give him a better angle on her. “Sophie said you were fighting those… things.” She gestures at the leg of a Kraang droid sticking out from under a foldout bed. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to let you take Jasmine, either.”

Mikey gasps loudly and stares at Leo, then the woman, then at Leo again.

“We aren’t here to take Jasmine,” Leo says patiently. “We just want to make sure she’s safe.”

“She’s not safe,” the tall woman – Sophie? – says angrily. “Those alien robots took her.”

“Guys,” Mikey says, waving his arms. “Something you forgot to mention?”

“Not right now, Mikey,” Leo says.

Sophie snorts loudly and then coughs again. “Wait. You’re… _Mikey_? Jasmine’s Mikey?”

“Surprise,” Raph says sardonically.

“GUYS,” Mikey says again, loud enough this time to wake any neighbors who had stayed asleep through two scuffles. “This is really not cool.”

“Mikey, we don’t have time for this!” Leo insists.

“No time! How long would it have taken to say, ‘Mikey, we need to rescue your girlfriend!’” Mikey yells.

“Wait,” Sophie says. “I sent Mikey a message…”

“Oh, that was you!” Leo says. “That makes more sense…”

“What message?” Mikey asks. “Why didn’t I know about any of this?”

Sophie shouts everyone else down. “So how does everyone but him know about it? Have you all been messaging my little sister? Is this some sort of sick reptile game?”

“No, no,” Leo says. “Donnie apparently has heuristics…”

“I don’t know what that means!” Mikey and Sophie say together.

This could go on all night. Raph’s prospects of getting to mess up some Kraang are worsening by the minute, to say nothing of rescuing Mikey’s girlfriend. He takes a deep breath. “This is great, but shouldn’t we be going after the Kraang?”

Leo gives him a nod. Probably the only thanks Raph will get for putting things back on track, but that’s fine. “Did she have her cell phone with her?” Leo asks Sophie. “Donnie can probably track it.”

“I think so,” Sophie says. “Do you think that’s how those things found us here?”

Leo shrugs. “Donnie’s the person to ask about that.”

“Which one of you is Donnie?” Sophie asks.

“He’s the one you pepper sprayed,” Raph tells her, none too kindly.

Sophie glares at him, looking like she has to stop herself from arguing her case. “So where is he? We need to get moving.”

Leo frowns. “You’re not going anywhere, except maybe to a doctor.”

“The hell you say. She’s my sister.” Sophie balls her hands into fists. Raph can relate. Leo’s _I know what you should do better than you do_ act always makes Raph want to clock him.

Leo just gets more smug. “We’re trained in the art of ninjutsu, and you aren’t. We have experience fighting the Kraang, and you don’t. And even if neither of those was true, you’re hurt too badly to be in the field.”

Sophie gives Leo a fierce smile. “I know Jasmine’s cell phone number, and you don’t.”

“I’m sure Donnie can find it in a few seconds,” Leo counters.

“Look, I’m sure your ninja skills are amazing, but I’m not staying home and trusting a bunch of kids – how old _are_ you?”

“We’re fifteen,” Leo says.

“Should you even be _out_ this late? Oh, never mind that. I’m going and that’s final.”

The other woman in the room speaks up. “If it were one of your brothers, would anything keep you from going after him?” Leo’s mouth opens, then closes.

Mikey wails, “Guys, none of this is helping Jasmine! We need to get going. Leo, please just let her come.”

Sophie scowls. “I don’t need him to _let_ me do anything…”

“Fine!” Leo interrupts. “Sophie, we’ll meet you out front, by the Shellraiser – uh, our vehicle.”

“You call it the Shellraiser?” Sophie rolls her eyes. “Boys.”

“If you’re not down there when we get there, we’re leaving without you,” Leo adds.

Sophie rolls her eyes again. She’s saying something to the other woman as the turtles head back up to the roof. Leo sets a quick pace, enough that Raph thinks he’s trying to leave Sophie behind, but they still come out of the alley to find her bursting out of the front door. She must have hit about every fifth stair on the way down. Raph notes approvingly that she stopped to have pick up the discarded baseball bat.

Leo hammers on the door. Donnie opens it, sees Sophie standing behind Leo, and visibly flinches.

“Donnie, this is Jasmine’s sister Sophie,” Leo quickly explains. “She’s going to give you Jasmine’s cell phone number so you can track it. You’ve got the locator working, right?”

Donnie blinks. “I think so? I haven’t really had the chance to try it in the field.”

“Here’s your chance!” Leo says breezily, and heads for the driver’s seat.

“Sorry about the pepper spray,” Sophie tells Donnie, a bit grudgingly. “Ready for Jasmine’s number?”

Donnie nods and keys in the number she gives him as Mikey, Raph, and Sophie clamber aboard the Shellraiser.

“OK, Leo, I have a fix on her,” he says. “Start heading south.”

“Where is she?” Mikey asks, leaning over Donnie’s shoulder.

“I can’t tell yet,” Donnie says testily. “It’s the wrong direction for TCRI, at least.”

“TCRI’s the big Kraang base,” Mikey says. Raph’s about to say, _We know, genius_ , before he realizes that the explanation is for Sophie’s benefit. Is Mikey trying to get on her good side? Raph’s not sure so far that she has one. At least Mikey doesn’t say anything about the Olympics.

Sophie’s still taking in the different stations in the Shellraiser. “So, is this a normal night for you guys?” she asks Mikey.

“Naw,” he says. “Donnie just got this sweet ride running a few days back.”

“I was thinking of fighting killer robots, rescuing people, that sort of thing.”

Mikey thinks a moment. “Yeah, that’s pretty normal. I mean, sometimes we fight the Foot instead, or Dogpound or Fishface, or Snakeweed…”

A muscle twitches in Sophie’s jaw. Raph can relate. “You do understand that Jasmine isn’t cut out for that kind of life?”

Mikey’s eyes get wide. “I wasn’t going to ask Jasmine to go on _patrol_ with us. I mean, maybe she could once Splinter trains her to be a _kunoichi_ , but I was thinking more like holding hands. Walking in the moonlight. That sorta thing.”

 _Where did he get this stuff?_ Raph wonders. _Probably from Donnie_. “Bro, it’s not gonna happen,” he says. “She thinks you’re a human boy on the other end of a computer screen. When she sees you, she’s gonna scream, not hold your hand.”

Mikey shoots a wounded look Raph’s way, which means that only Raph sees the odd way Sophie screws her face up. She makes a choking noise, then coughs a few times.

“I’ll have you know that my hand is _very_ holdable,” Mikey protests, holding out his hand toward Raph.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna hold your hand either, Mikey,” he says.

Mikey makes those wounded puppy dog eyes he’s practiced to perfection, and Raph groans. He’s saved from further discussion of hand-holding when Donnie shouts, “We’re almost there! Get ready!” The Shellraiser hurtles around one last corner and screeches to a halt in front of a run-down warehouse, just in front of a very familiar-looking white van with two Kraang droids sitting in the front seat.

Raph lunges for the weapon controls, but Mikey grabs his arm. Raph snarls at him. “This is really no time for –“

“Jasmine could be in there!” Mikey yells over him.

“She’s not, or at least her cell phone isn’t,” Donnie says. “I’m showing her inside the building.”

That’s good enough for Raph. He hammers the cannon controls, and a pair of manhole covers fly through the windshield of the van, decapitating the Kraang droids. Leo and Mikey are already heading out onto the sidewalk. He fires one more shot into the engine block for good measure, then scrambles to join them.

“All right, here’s my plan…” Leo begins.

“I know! It’s ‘rescue my girlfriend right now,’ right?” Mikey interrupts. He charges the nearest door into the warehouse, then yells in frustration as it proves to be locked.

“It involved the element of stealth,” Leo mutters as Mikey continues yelling at the door.

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Raph says, and runs at the door. He puts his shoulder and all his accumulated rage into it, and the door tears loose of its hinges with an anguished squeal. Mikey’s inside in a flash, then Sophie runs by Raph and into the building as he’s still recovering his balance. He charges in after them, Leo bringing up the rear, probably still grumbling about how his brothers never wait around for him to detail his perfect, perfect plan.

The interior of the warehouse is half-full of boxes, leaving a maze of shadowy passages. One Kraang droid is standing right in front of them. It calls out, “Kraang! Kraang is seeing those who are known as the turtles in the place which…” Mikey springs at him and delivers a kick to the midsection strong enough that it knocks the Kraang entirely free from the droid. It scurries off, keening.

A stream of Kraang droids charge Mikey from both sides, but Mikey’s fighting like a turtle possessed, nunchakus whirling faster than Raph has ever seen them. Raph’s moving up to help him when his attention is drawn by a banging noise from across the warehouse. Mikey really seems to be holding his own, so Raph decides he should see if the noise is some Kraang weapon being brought to bear on them. He darts sideways around a box of crates to see a gray-haired woman in a tight-cinched brown top stepping away from a large cube made of some white metal.

“Oh, sewer bunnies,” Raph mutters.

Sophie has followed Raph around the crates. “What? She’s doesn’t look tough

“She has rocket arms!” Raph warns. The robot raises them as if to demonstrate, its hands dropping away to reveal the rocket tubes.

“Shit!” Sophie ducks back behind the crates. Raph leaps aside as the rockets slam into where they were just standing.

As the smoke clears, he ducks back out to check the range – too far away for him to be sure of a sai throw. “Leo!” he calls. “Distract her so I can get in closer.”

“Mikey’s getting swarmed, I need to help him!” Leo yells back. “You and Donnie can deal with her!”

“Donnie’s not here!” Raph reminds him.

“I can get her attention,” Sophie says. “I’ve trash talked plenty of big girls.”

Raph’s got no idea what she’s talking about, and he doesn’t really care. “Do it,” Raph says.

“Don’t waste this,” Sophie orders him. She steps out into the open, waving her baseball bat, and yells at the robot, “Hey! Asshole! Give me my sister back, or I’m going to beat you like a drum!” The robot promptly looses two more rockets at her, but Sophie manages to get back behind cover. _That was close. I’d better move before she doesn’t get out of the way in time._ He darts forward and ducks behind the next stack of crates.

Sophie steps back out and resumes taunting the robot. “You call those rockets? My little sister’s science product packs a bigger punch!” The rocket arms come up again, and Raph hurls one of his sais at the nearest one. The sai catches the rocket just as it’s emerging from the arm, and there is a highly satisfying explosion. Raph ducks as robot parts spray the area. An arm – the other one, he guesses – lands near him. The fingers clench and relax once, then the arm lies still.

Raph pumps a fist. “Oh yeah! Gotta remember that trick next time I meet one of those!”

“Nice shot!” Sophie says approvingly.

“We better help Leo and Mikey.” Raph spares just a moment to look for his sai, but he can’t tell where it ended up, or if it even survived the explosion. His brothers are much easier to find – Raph just follows the sound of Kraang weapons being discharged and the clatter and crash of weapons against metal. He arrives just in time to see Mikey leap into the air as two Kraang droids shoot at him, leaving the droids to shoot each other in the face.

The severed heads and limbs scattered about the floor testify to the effectiveness of Leo’s katanas, but a column of Kraang is now advancing on him. Their backs are to Raph, and he takes full advantage, hurling himself into the fray. He smashes a robotic head between his fist and the hilt of his remaining sai. The head crumples pleasingly, and the body sways and collapses. Sophie yells something Raph can’t make out and charges in, laying about herself with the bat.

The still-standing Kraang turn and flee. Raph pursues as they hurry out the back door of the warehouse, but Leo calls him back. “Raph! Remember, we’re here for Jasmine.”

“I know that!” Raph snaps. “But they’re going to get reinforcements!”

“With all the racket, they’ve got to be alerted already. We need to find Jasmine and get out of here!”

“I’d bet she’s in there,” Raph says, gesturing at the white metal cube, which is covered with Kraang circuitry. It looks glaringly out of place in the dingy warehouse.

Sophie runs up to the cube and starts pounding on the side. “Jasmine! Jasmine, are you in there?”

The girl’s voice from within is muffled, hollow-sounding, but audible. “Sophie! Sophie, is that you? How… how did you get past them? There were so many of them!”

“I found some help,” Sophie says, a bit grimly.

All three turtles start heading toward the cell, but Mikey closes the distance with a sprint. “Jasmine, it’s Mikey!”

“Mikey?” She sounds shocked.

“Yeah, I’m here, and my brothers are here too! We’re going to get you out of there!”

“How _do_ you open this thing?” Sophie asks.

“Dunno,” Mikey says cheerily, with a broad shrug. Raph gets to him just in time to grab his arm before he can start pushing random buttons.

“Raph! We gotta get this open!” Mikey protests.

Raph gestures with his sai at one of the pieces of circuitry. “That looks like a Kraang lock control.”

“I’ll get Donnie,” Leo says, pulling out his T-phone.

“Naw, I got it,” Raph says, and plunges his sai into the control panel. It flares and sparks, and all the electronics abruptly go dead. Mikey pushes experimentally on the side of the cube, but nothing happens.

“Nice going, Raph,” Leo says acidly. “Donnie’s on his way.”

Sophie and Mikey are both glaring at Raph now. “That usually works,” he says in a wounded tone.

“What’s going on out there?” Jasmine says. There’s an edge of panic in her muffled voice.

Weirdly, this seems to calm Sophie. “We’re just having some trouble getting this thing open. One of Mikey’s brothers is coming to fix it. Unless – is there any chance you can open it from inside?”

“No! I’m… they had me strapped down. And I don’t think this thing is supposed to open from the inside, anyway. They said something about securing the specimen for examination. I think they meant me.” She sounds close to tears. Raph stands awkwardly, wishing something would show up for him to punch.

“It’s all right, Jasmine,” Mikey says. “We’ve got four ninjas here, and we’re not going to let anyone examinate you.”

“Mikey, that’s really sweet. But I don’t think ‘examinate’ is a word.”

“Well, Donnie should like her,” Leo says. “Speaking of Donnie…”

He staggers up to them, toolbox in hand. “Let me take a look at that,” he says, and gets down on one knee to poke at the panel.

“How long will it take to get it open?” Leo asks.

“Well, let’s see. It might be a little while, since it wasn’t designed to operate _with a sai in it_!” Donnie yells. Everyone else takes one step back. “Now let me work.”

“Mikey, so you’re really a ninja? I thought that was just a game,” Jasmine asks from inside the cell.

“I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but they’re really ninjas, sis,” Sophie says. “They took down those Kraang like they’d been training for it their whole lives.”

“We pretty much have,” Mikey says.

“And they’re _definitely_ teenagers,” Sophie adds, with another eye roll.

“What’s a Kraang?” Jasmine asks.

“Kraig and his hundreds of identical twin brothers,” Sophie explains.

“Soph, when you open this, Mikey’s going to see me. I mean, they’re all going to see me, aren’t they? Isn’t that a problem?”

Sophie laughs, a deep bellowing kind of laugh. “I don’t think it’s going to be as much of a problem as you would think.” She turns to the turtles. “I should probably warn you that Jasmine doesn’t…”

“I think I’ve got it!” Donnie interrupts. He’s pulled some wires out of the ruined circuit board. “I just need a moment to hook these up to power.”

Leo steps forward. “OK, as soon as it’s open, get Jasmine out of there. Then we all head for the Shellraiser before the Kraang show up.”

“Sophie and Jasmine will need to ditch their cell phones,” Donnie notes.

“What?” both sisters ask.

“As long as you have them on you, the Kraang can track you through them,” Donnie says.

“Donnie can make you custom T-phones to replace them,” Mikey says.

Donnie sighs theatrically as he finishes attaching one of the wires to a car battery. He touches another wire to the other terminal, and the side of the cube opens with a whooshing noise. A figure – presumably Jasmine - is in there, strapped down to a table. The wall behind her looks like a Kraang hardware store, covered in knives and drills and… Raph gulps. He’s really glad they didn’t get here any later.

He looks back down at Jasmine and realizes that she isn’t human. Not all human, at least. She’s got fur all over her face and down one arm, whiskers sprouting from under her nose, and Raph is pretty sure that’s a tail sticking out from under her.

_Mikey was right?_

“I told you she was a cat person!” Mikey crows in delight as he and Sophie rush to Jasmine’s side and start smashing the restraints.

“Mikey, is that you?” Jasmine turns to see him. Raph half-hopes she’ll scream and recoil when she sees his brother. He doesn’t wish Mikey any pain, but there’s no way this won’t get messy down the road. Better to get it over with now. But instead of screaming, she makes a _purring_ noise. “You _are_ a turtle person!” she squeals.

Sophie and Mikey break the last restraints, and Jasmine practically leaps into Mikey’s arms. They hug each other tight, heedless of Leo insisting, “We’ve got to go! The Kraang reinforcements are coming!”

Raph and Sophie’s eyes meet. She has a resigned look that he suspects mirrors his own. So much for things not getting messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the wait. I've learned my lesson about promising when the next (and last) chapter will be up, but it shouldn't be 11 months from now.


	7. Mikey and Jasmine

Mikey can’t quite believe that he’s holding Jasmine in his arms. The scene seems like a dream, but he definitely doesn’t want to wake up. The dream is welcome to go on forever as far as he’s concerned. Leo’s yelling something in the background, but Mikey tunes him out. He’s gotten very good at it over time. Leo yells things a lot.

The pinging noise of a Kraang energy weapon is more successful at getting his attention. Reluctantly, he lets go of Jasmine. “Time to go!” he says.

Jasmine nods, and they start running across the warehouse. Mikey immediately bursts out ahead of her, realizes she’s not keeping up, and drops back. Sophie’s hanging back with her sister as well, and Raph is bringing up the rear with one arm supporting Donnie. Leo’s already at the door, waving them on.

Mikey glances back at the Kraang battalion pouring into the warehouse and taking aim at them. His fingers reach down and find one of Donnie’s smoke bombs, and he tosses it down, then pulls Jasmine aside as the Kraang energy blasts fly by them. The Kraang stop firing, and the turtles and sisters scramble out the door, Jasmine and Sophie coughing at the smoke. It hadn’t occurred to Mikey to warn them to hold their breath.

They scramble on board the Shellraiser, and Leo kicks into gear as soon as they slam the door behind them. Jasmine glances around. “This is your ride? Cool,” she says to Mikey.

Sophie makes a choking noise. Mikey feels bad that the smoke is still bothering her.

“Did you two ditch your cell phones?” Donnie asks urgently.

Sophie says, “I left mine in the warehouse,” but Jasmine asks, “What?”

“The Kraang can track them,” Donnie says. “I think that’s how they found the two of you.”

Jasmine pulls out her phone. The case is covered with adorable cat stickers. Mikey can’t help saying, “Aww.” Jasmine gives the phone one regretful look, then drops it out the window.

“Don’t worry, Donnie will make you a new one! It’ll be like my custom T-phone!” Mikey says, pulling out his and displaying it to Jasmine.

“The encryption on the phone makes it impossible for anyone to track,” Donnie says proudly.

“Really? What kind of encryption are you using?” Jasmine asks.

Donnie responds with a burst of long science words. Jasmine nods, apparently absorbed, then asks a question made up of just as much science. Donnie lights up at that and starts talking even faster. Mikey’s glad Donnie and his girlfriend are getting along, but he hopes this conversation doesn’t go on too long.

Leo breaks in. “We’ve shaken the Kraang pursuit. Where should I drop you two off?”

“You don’t need to drop them off, Leo! They just got here!” Mikey protests.

“Mikey, it’s the middle of the night,” Leo points out. “I’m sure Sophie and Jasmine would both like to get some sleep.”

“Where’s a good question, though,” Sophie says. “The Kraang know about our apartment and Nikki’s, now. We’ll need to find a new place to stay. Probably one for Nikki, too. I don’t want those things showing up at her door looking for us.”

“She doesn’t have a door anymore,” Mikey helpfully points out.

Sophie acts like she doesn’t hear him. “I’ll work on finding us a place and see if I can get our stuff from my apartment. But Jasmine needs a safe place to stay. Would you be willing to stay at Dad’s?”

Jasmine blanches. “I… I guess I could…” she says hesitantly.

“No one’s gonna make you,” Mikey says with a glare at Sophie. “You can stay with us for a few days.”

“Out of the question,” Sophie says, at the same time as Leo’s, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mikey,” and Raph’s, “You think Sensei’s going to be OK with that?”

Sophie draws herself up to her full height and glares down at Mikey. “I just got Jasmine back from alien tentacle things. I’m not going to turn around and send her off with, uh, turtle-men who I barely know.”

“We’re _mutant turtles_ ,” Mikey corrects.

“And technically, we’d be turtle-teenagers, not turtle-men,” Donnie says.

Sophie grimaces. “That really doesn’t help your case.”

“Mikey, you know we’re not supposed to take anyone back to the lair,” Leo says.

“She needs to be somewhere safe from the Kraang, and we’ve got one place that is! April’s been to the lair plenty of times. Even the Pulverizer got to go to the lair!”

“That was an accident!” Donnie protests.

“Do I get a vote here?” Jasmine says sharply. “I think Mikey’s right. It’s not safe for me to try to tag along with you, Soph, and their place sounds safest.”

“Please, guys,” Mikey adds, opening his eyes wide and letting his lower lip tremble just a little. “This really means a lot to me.”

Leo gives an exasperated sigh. “Fine.”

“ _I’m_ still not fine with it,” Sophie says. “Even if everything else was more normal, I wouldn’t let you go off unchaperoned with the Internet boyfriend you just met.”

Raph laughs. “Oh, they won’t be unchaperoned. Sensei will probably keep them ten feet apart at all times.”

Jasmine’s feline eyes narrow as she looks at her sister. “Certainly you didn’t go anywhere with Ryan when you barely knew him. Or Joel, or…”

Sophie groans. “Why do I ever tell you anything?” Sophie asks. “Anyway, just because I’ve done dumb things doesn’t mean you should do the same ones.”

Mikey gives Sophie his most earnest look, the one that usually makes Raph smack him. He doesn’t this time. “I promise we’ll take good care of her. We’ll keep her safe.”

Sophie’s clearly not happy about this, but she gives a nod and turns to Donnie. “When are those new phones going to be ready?”

“I can have them tomorrow night,” Donnie says.

“OK. We’re going to set up a time to meet tomorrow night, so I can get my phone and check in with my sister. And if _anything_ happens to her while she’s with you, I will not stop until I’ve found you and _ended_ you.”

“It’ll be OK,” Jasmine tells Sophie, touching her hand.

“Can you drop me off back at Nikki’s? I need to tell her she’s got to move because of me,” Sophie says sourly.

Jasmine’s eyes go wide and her ears go back. “Erwin! What about Erwin?”

“Nikki and I will look after him,” Sophie says. “Unless you want to try to take him with you?”

Jasmine ponders that a moment. “No, he’s been through enough scary stuff for tonight. Hug him for me, though?”

“Who’s this?” Raph asks specifically.

Mikey knows this one from their chats. “Her cat, Erwin.”

Donnie suddenly smiles, maybe for the first time since getting pepper-sprayed. “Did you name him after…?”

“Yep,” Jasmine says. She sounds a little sheepish and a little proud.

Leo guns the engine. “Donnie, can you navigate for me? I think Mikey’s too distracted.”

Mikey is especially distracted at the moment by Jasmine leaning over to whisper to him. “Mikey, I don’t know which brother is which.”

Feeling her breath on the side of his head makes Mikey’s heart do a weird fluttering thing. “Um…” So _this_ is what happens to Donnie when he gets all stammer around April. “Oh! So Leo’s up front driving. He’s our leader and tells us how Ninjas Should Behave.”

“Hey, Leo,” Jasmine says quietly.

“Hey,” Leo says without turning around.

“This here is Donnie. He’s the smartest one. He fixes all the things that, uh, break around the lair.”

“The things that you break, you mean,” Donnie shoots back.

“And this is Raph. He’s the grumpy one.”

“Why, you…” Raph grunts and grabs at Mikey, who twirls away from him. Raph winds up and takes a swing at him, and Mikey ducks away. They repeat this several times, Mikey bouncing up and down between Raph’s attacks, until Jasmine starts giggling. Even Sophie is chuckling a bit, though she looks like she hates herself for it. Mikey spares a fond look at Jasmine – _she is so pretty_ , he thinks – and promptly gets walloped atop the head by Raph.

They pull up outside Nikki’s apartment building while Raph is still issuing threats. Sophie and Jasmine share a tight hug, and Sophie whispers something in Jasmine’s ear that makes her sister give a quick grin. Then Sophie glares at the turtles. “Tomorrow night at seven. Like we said.” She must have talked to Leo while Mikey was playing keep-away-from-Raph. “Or I end you.”

“We’ll be there,” Leo says unhappily.

She gets out, and Donnie sets a course for home. “Back to the lair,” he comments.

“You all call it the lair?” Jasmine asks. “I thought that was just Mikey being Mikey. It sounds ominous.”

“No, it’s great!” Mikey says, and spends the rest of their drive home telling Jasmine about all the lair’s awesome features, the TV and the pinball machine and the comic books. Jasmine starts smiling at him, so he keeps going, describing lair features that might not exactly exist, like the roller coaster and pizza fountain. He’s still going when they stumble into the lair and see the tall figure awaiting them.

“Dudes, Sensei’s up!” Mikey interrupts himself to say. “We are so dead!”

“Maybe not _all_ of us,” Donnie says thoughtfully.

Gingerly, the four turtles approach their father, Jasmine hanging back behind them. Sensei waves a finger at them as soon as they come within range. “What is the meaning of this? Going out a second time, with no thought to informing…” His gaze falls on Jasmine. “And who is this?”

Leo, Donnie, and Raph all turn to Mikey. “Why don’t you explain this, Mikey?” Leo suggests with a gleam in his eye.

Mikey steps forward with a gulp. “She’s… she’s my girlfriend, Sensei.”

“Your _girlfriend_?” Sensei’s eyebrows shoot up, and his staff points at Mikey. “Several questions come to mind. Why have I heard nothing of this girl? Why did the four of you decide to bring her to our _secret lair_? And does she have a name?”

No, Sensei is definitely not happy. Mikey opens his mouth to answer and realizes he only remembers the last question. “Jasmine, Sensei. Her name is Jasmine.” He reaches back to gesture Jasmine forward.

She stares, wide-eyed, for a moment. Then she steps forward and, to Mikey’s surprise, places her human hand firmly over his three fingers. She nods her head to Sensei. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir. Mikey has said so much about you.”

Sensei’s eyes narrow dangerously. “Indeed, he has?!”

“She was being kidnapped by the Kraang! We had to help her!” Mikey blurts.

Sensei takes a deep breath. Mikey senses a lecture coming, but he loses track of the words almost immediately. The soft, warm hand atop his is thoroughly distracting. He glances up at Jasmine’s face. Her eyes are twitching from side to side – what is she looking at? Following her gaze, he realizes that, as Sensei speaks, his beard is swinging slightly to and fro. Jasmine’s cat hand is starting to twitch as well as she settles back onto her heels. _She’s getting ready to pounce_.

“No!” he yells, reaching past her to grab the offending paw.

Jasmine takes back her left hand from Mikey’s grip and covers her face with it. “I am so sorry, sir. Sometimes, it – the cat in me – is hard to control.”

“You will master the cat in time. Just as I have gained the control to stand before a cat – without flinching.” The solemnity of the moment is somewhat undermined by Mikey’s brothers trying not to snicker in the background.

“Yes, sir,” Jasmine says meekly.

Sensei raises his gaze to the rest of the turtles. “It is late, and you must rest. We will discuss tonight’s events further in the morning.” His eyes return to Jasmine. “I certainly will not turn you out into the night. You may sleep in Leonardo’s room.”

“But where am I going to sleep?” Leo protests.

“You will bunk with Michelangelo. Be sure that he does not stir from his bed again tonight.”

“Why do I have to-“

“Do not think, my son, that I have forgotten all those things which you neglected to mention to me. We will speak on these topics more in the morning.”

Leo gulps.

“Go on then, to bed!” Sensei adds.

“Good night, Jasmine,” Mikey says, grinning despite Sensei’s disapproval.

“Good night, Mikey, everyone,” Jasmine says.

Mikey’s mind is whirling, but as he falls into bed, he realizes how tired he is. He falls asleep almost immediately, and dreams of eating pizza with Jasmine while they run across rainbows and ride rollercoasters.

#

Jasmine’s dreams are less peaceful. She’s running away from the men in suits, their guns pinging behind her, and just when she thinks she’s gotten clear of them, she turns a corner and is confronted with the monkey, bellowing and loping towards her. She runs and runs, only to collide with a giant rat-man who raises his staff and sternly tells her, “This will hurt, but it is only for your own good. You should never have come here…”

She wakes up, gasping, in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, the sheets on her left side soaked with sweat. (She doesn’t sweat much anymore on the cat side. She’s found that washing it with her tongue helps her stay cool, but that freaks Sophie out, so she usually uses a washcloth instead.) it takes her a moment to remember where she is and what’s happened, and a few more to actually believe it. She says it out loud, experimentally. “I was captured by aliens, but then Mikey and Sophie came and rescued me.”

It sounds mad, but that’s what her life has been since she touched the goo. So instead of continuing to lie in bed and mull it over, she slips out of bed and stretches. Somehow, impossibly, her lost suitcase from the night before has appeared beside the bed. She’s glad to ditch her grubby clothes in favor of a clean pair of jeans and the I HEART SCIENCE t-shirt Dad got her last year.

She feels _hungry_. She probably shouldn’t be surprised after all of the unaccustomed activity, mostly consisting of running away. Leo doesn’t seem to have any food in his neatly organized room, though she is delighted to discover a complete run of _Space Heroes_ comics. That merits investigation, later. She feels nervous and hesitant about venturing beyond this room. Telling herself it’s silly, she gingerly pushes open the door and steps onto the stairs.

She hears the sound of weapons clashing and flinches before realizing that it’s just the turtles training. Donnie and Raph are sparring in the ring, with Donnie, it appears, getting the worst of it. She’s glad to see he seems recovered from last night. Mikey is going through a series of poses with his nunchaku. He catches sight of her and gives her a wave and a broad smile. Jasmine waves and smiles back.

Mikey’s Sensei – does he even have a name? – is talking animatedly with Leo, but they break off their conversation as they see her. “A good morning to you,” the rat-man says. “Help yourself to breakfast, in the kitchen,” he adds, gesturing to a door.

Jasmine wonders what to expect as she follows Splinter’s direction. What do turtles and rats eat? Judging by the selection of sugary cereals she finds on the counter, their dietary preferences are all too human. She sniffs at the boxes, but none of them smell appetizing. Why did her digestive system have to go all obligate carnivore? She pours some milk in a bowl and laps at it, then dives back into the fridge. Something in there smells good. She follows her nose to a pizza box bearing the scrawled note “MIKEYS KEEP OUT.”

Opening the box reveals two slices of pepperoni pizza. She immediately peels the pepperoni from the pizza and bolts them down one by one. It’s not until she swallows the last and is gazing at the denuded, now much less interesting pizza that a wave of shame hits her. _Thanks for your hospitality, Mikey, I ate all the meat off your pizza._

She wanders back out of the kitchen, vaguely thinking she’ll apologize to Mikey, but he’s sparring with Leo now, the rat-man watching attentively. _No, Sensei_ , she corrects herself. “Rat-man” is far too disrespectful an appellation, given the esteem in which Mikey and his brothers clearly hold him. She debates going up and saying something to him, but can’t manage to work up the courage. He seems so stern, and so _large_.

She settles for sitting down on the floor, cross-legged. Mikey, noticing her, turns and gives her another wave, at which point Leo hooks his feet out from under him and he falls, hard, to the ground. Jasmine winces and calls out, “Sorry!”

“’Sall good!” Mikey answers cheerily, bouncing back into a standing position and whirling his nunchaku in Leo’s direction.

“You must focus, Michelangelo!” Sensei admonishes.

Jasmine makes herself as small and quiet as she can, like she used to do in the school cafeteria. Now that she is less distracted by hunger, she is fascinated by seeing the turtles training. She’s streamed a fair number of martial-arts movies, but it’s different seeing the moves in person. The turtles move in an elaborate dance mixing grace, physicality, and raw power. A potentially extremely _painful_ dance, Jasmine notes, as Raph slips by Donnie’s guard and clobbers him on the side of the head. Jasmine winces again, but Donnie is right back into the fight, driving Raph back with a spinning staff.

She spends the most time watching Mikey. All the turtles are clearly highly trained and expert with their weapons, but Mikey is the most _fun_ to watch. He’s in constant motion, bouncing and rolling, changing the direction of his nunchaku without warning, occasionally managing to catch Leo off guard. His muscles clench and ripple under his skin in a way that Jasmine decides is completely unfair. She gets caught up in the movement of those muscles, realizes she’s staring, and blushes furiously. She’d better look at something else, anything else. Her eyes go to Sensei’s beard. Not that!

She shuts her eyes and starts reciting the periodic table. By the time she’s made it up to neptunium (she never skips the actinides – that’s cheating), she feels less hot and bothered and can go back to watching Mikey. He moves around like a gymnast. She abruptly feels very aware of how chubby and out-of-shape she is. Is that a disappointment for Mikey?

But it’s hard to feel like she might be disappointing him when he comes bounding over to her with an enormous grin after Sensei calls a halt for lunch. One of the brothers calls out, “Can’t wait to get to your _girlfriend_ , Mikey?” and Mikey yells back, “That’s right!” without breaking stride. Their affectionate teasing makes Jasmine miss Sophie, which is silly. She manages OK when Sophie goes to work, and it hasn’t even been that long.

“Want some lunch?” Mikey asks her. “I saved some pizza I can share with you.”

“Mikey’s sharing his pizza?” Donnie asks. “He must really like you.”

Jasmine blushes again at that. “Uh, about your pizza, Mikey… I sort of ate all the pepperoni off it.”

Mikey’s face falls for a moment, but he quickly recovers and brings the huge smile back. “Want to share some cheese pizza for lunch?” he asks.

“You’re so sweet,” she tells him without thinking. She blushes again. “Um, I don’t really eat pizza any more though. It doesn’t really agree with me.”

“Oh!” he says, looking thoroughly bewildered. “Do you eat, like, cat things, then? I don’t think we have any cat food…”

Jasmine sticks out her tongue. “Ew,” she says. “I eat meat, mostly. Hamburgers, chicken, and turkey are all good. And I really like sushi.”

Mikey gives her a thumbs-up. “Got it! I’ll be right back.” He sprints toward the turnstiles across the lair.

Jasmine sits on the floor and waits for him to come back. She can hear the brothers banging around in the kitchen. After a bit, Raph and Leo emerge and sit down at the side of the pit to eat. Jasmine wonders if she should say something to them, but they seem absorbed in their meals.

Mikey comes running back across the lair, holding a pair of dripping fish by their tails. Jasmine sniffs as he draws closer and takes in the aroma of very fresh fish. She squeaks involuntarily in appreciation. Mikey skids to a stop in front of her, holds the fish out, and says, “I got you sushi! Um, sort of.”

She has to restrain herself from ripping the fish out of his hand. “This is great, Mikey. Thanks!” She takes the fish, tears it open, and starts devouring the rich, tender flesh.

Leo coughs, and she hears Raph say, “Well, at least she won’t be too freaked out by watching _Mikey_ eat.” She blushes but keeps on eating. The fish tastes so much better than Mikey’s pepperoni.

“Where did you get these, Mikey?” she asks between bites.

Mikey ducks his head. “Uh, you probably don’t want to know. I’ll go grab my pizza.” He heads for the kitchen. A few minutes pass before he returns with pizza in hand and Donnie in tow.

“Jasmine,” Donnie says. While she’s heard him confidently bantering with his brothers, he seems more tentative addressing her now, almost awkward. She appreciates the awkwardness not being all on her side. “I have your custom T-phone ready. I’m still working on your sister’s, but I thought you might want to try yours out.” He hands her the green, turtle-shelled phone with evident pride.

“Just don’t say…” Mikey starts.

“Mikey, no! Not _again_!” Donnie yells at him. He takes a deep breath. “What my brother means to say is that if it’s ever necessary, you can order your phone to self-destruct by saying ‘T-phone,’ then immediately afterward without putting a bunch of words in the middle like I’m doing here, ‘self-destruct.’”

“That’s… good to know?” Jasmine says, feeling her ears twitch. She can’t imagine why she would need to blow up her phone, but has a disconcerting sense that after enough time with Mikey and his brothers the idea will seem perfectly normal.

“Well, give it a try,” Donnie says.

Jasmine thumbs the button at the base of the phone. It comes up, displaying “JASMINE WALKER” across the top.

_That’s not my name_. Almost, almost she says it out loud, but it would feel like slapping Donnie in the face, and of Mikey’s three brothers he’s the one who seems most friendly to her. It didn’t seem worth the explanation that Sophie had changed her last name to Mom’s when she moved out, and Jasmine had kept Dad’s. She wasn’t sure if the turtles they even had last names; they certainly hadn’t mentioned them. What difference could it make to them whether she was Jasmine Walker or Jasmine Rockwell?

She glances up to see both Donnie and Mikey giving her anxious looks. The sign of their concern brings a smile to her face. “Thank you,” she says, and starts playing around with the phone. She doesn’t recognize the OS, but it’s certainly fast and responsive. She brings up the text messaging app and smiles more widely when she sees that the first contact is “MIKEY!!!”

“I figured you’d use that one the most,” Donnie says. “He made me put in the exclamation points. Anyway, this will let you two talk without tipping off the Kraang to your location.”

“What about tipping you off?” Mikey asks suspiciously.

Donnie looks wounded and spreads his big green hands. “I promise not to eavesdrop on your t-phone conversations.” He wanders back in the direction of the kitchen.

Jasmine goes back to thumbing through the phone features. It’s definitely an improvement over her old phone, but it doesn’t quite feel like hers, and she suddenly keenly feels the loss of the pictures and apps on the lost phone. Hopefully Sophie will be able to recover her lost computer with the backups. Tears unexpectedly well up in her eyes as she thinks of everything she’s had to leave behind.

“You okay?” Mikey asks her.

She blinks, trying to clear her eyes. “Yeah. It’s just been… a lot has happened in the last few days.”

“It’s gonna be OK,” Mikey says confidently. “We’ll see your sis tonight, and she’ll have things under control. And we’ll help you two out if you need anything.”

He is such a sweetheart. “Thanks, Mikey.”

“Need a distraction? ‘Cause I brought you something,” Mikey says.

“Mikey, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” he says. He pulls a multicolored length of string from his belt and dangles it in front of her. Her right hand reaches for it of its own volition, and Mikey quickly jerks it up out of her reach. Jasmine bounds to her feet and reaches forward to rip it from his hand.

“Again, again!” she laughs, pulling the string off her claws and returning it to him.

They repeat the game four times, until they both collapse in laughter, the string firmly gripped in Jasmine’s cat hand. She leans forward and kisses Mikey once on the tip of his nose. “Thank you,” she tells him.

Mikey gives her a broad, dazed smile. She swears his eyes look like little hearts. “I love being a turtle,” he says softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who stuck around during the long wait for the last two chapters! This wraps up this story, but I may write some short bits about Mikey & Jasmine later on. Feel free to prompt me!


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